Comparison of hmf amount and benzoic acid and sorbic acid content in liquid grape molasses produced by traditional and modern methods

Molasses, one of the traditional Turkish foods; it is produced from fruits with high sugar content such as grapes, mulberries, apples, carob. Grape is one of the fruits traditionally molasses produced in liquid or solid form in our country. Traditionally, in the production of liquid grape molasses, the method of squeezing the grape fruit, obtaining the must, then clarifying the must by adding white soil and then boiling it is used. Concentration process in commercially produced molasses by modern method is carried out at low temperatures under vacuum, and there is no significant change in the nutrients and biochemical composition of the molasses. As a result of the non-enzymatic browning reaction of reducing sugars and nitrogenous substances in the structures of the fruits used in the production of molasses, or due to the long-term storage of molasses at high temperature, an organic compound called HMF, which has possible toxic effects on human health, may occur. HMF, which is one of the browning products occurring in foods, is a chemical compound evaluated as a quality indicator in molasses. In addition, according to the Regulation on Food Additives, it is stated that grape molasses should not contain preservative food additives such as benzoic acid and sorbic acid. In this study, it was aimed to determine the HMF, benzoic acid and sorbic acid parameters of liquid grape molasses produced by traditional method in Uşak and liquid grape molasses purchased from local markets in Uşak by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) method. In addition, it is planned to compare and evaluate two different molasses groups with the help of the results obtained.