The mineral profile of sour cherry juice was investigated to detect possible adulterations and especially to estimate fruit content in ready to drink beverages. For this purpose, sodium (Na), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and phosphorus (P) content of 103 sour cherry juice samples, collected from different companies in three different years (2009, 2010, 2011), were determined. It was found that the sour cherry juice at 13.5⁰ brix included 8-92 mg/kg of Na, 1189- 2455 mg/kg of K, 35-198 mg/kg of Ca, 75-160 mg/kg of Mg and 124-180 mg/kg of P. Step-wise regression was applied to determine an appropriate model for estimating the fruit content in sour cherry juice. The equation with two parameters (y=5.881+0.5453 P+0.0058 K) was determined to be the best fitting model.
Keywords: Authenticity Control, Fruit Content, Mineral Profile, Sour Cherry Juice, Step-Wise Regression
