Introduction. Red and black currants are a valuable component of a healthy
diet because they are an excellent source of ascorbic acid, anthocyanins and minerals.
Materials and methods. Three red currant cultivars and eight black currant
cultivars were evaluated in terms of fruit quality. Some selected physicochemical
characteristics such as berry weight, dry matter, soluble solids, total sugars, titratable
acidity and total anthocyanins were investigated. Total anthocyanin content was measured
with the pH differential absorbance method while citric, malic, tartaric and ascorbic acid
were quantified by a reversed-phase HPLC method. Sodium, calcium, magnesium, iron,
manganese, chromium and zinc were determined by ICP-MS following a microwave digestion,
while potassium content was determined by FAAS. Results. Significant
differences in the physicochemical and mineral content were detected among the cultivars.
The range of total anthocyanins of the tested samples was 12.14–22.06 mg·100
g-1 (red currants) and 116.17–287.78 mg·100 g-1 (black currants).
Ascorbic acid content varied between 23.23–44.62 mg·100 g-1 (red currants) and
161.58–284.46 mg·100 g-1 (black currants). Citric acid was predominant in all
studied black and red currant cultivars, followed by malic and tartaric acids. Black and
red currants have rich mineral composition, especially potassium, calcium and magnesium.
Black currant fruits were superior to red currants with regard to calcium and magnesium
content.