Cyanogenic glycosides and phenolics in apple seeds and their changes during long term storage

Despite fruit seeds being considered fruit waste, they have good potential in human diet. The present research investigated the levels of bioactive compounds (phenolics and cyanogenic glycosides) in apple seeds of the cultivar 'Golden Delicious' grown in four different orchards in the world and their change over the course of 8 months of storage. Both phenolics and cyanogenic glycosides certainly respond to some environmental conditions, mainly temperature, precipitation and altitude. Apple seeds from Azerbaijan, with the highest temperature and the lowest annual precipitation, contained the highest cyanogenic glycosides contents (2.2 mg/g) and apple seeds from Russia, with the highest altitude and the lowest temperatures, had the highest levels of phenolics (6.2 mg/g). Additionally, their initial contents further altered over the course of 8 months of storage in a controlled atmosphere.