4. Conclusions
Kiwifruit grown in the area of the PGI ‘‘Kiwi Latina’’, the largest
Italian production area, is a rich source of carbohydrates, minerals
and trace elements and its daily consumption contributes to the
requirements for dietary fiber and especially for vitamin C, with a
mean content of 60 mg/100 g at ripening stage. Thus eating just
one fruit meets the daily recommended dietary allowance for
vitamin C (LARN, 1996). Besides this, kiwifruit is an excellent
source of several natural bioactive molecules expressing antioxidant
activity, such as ascorbic acid, phenolics, carotenoids and
tocols, which add to its nutritional value health-promoting effects.
In this study fruits grown in one of the five studied orchards (Borgo
Podgora) had the highest content of all the analyzed bioactive
molecules and also showed the strongest antioxidant activity.
Furthermore, the antioxidant activity value positively correlated
with the concentration of hydrophilic molecules, mostly with
ascorbic acid content. Our findings suggest vitamin C as the major
contributor to the total antioxidant activity in kiwifruit.