Quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) has been long regarded to be a health-promoting fruit. Although it is mainlyconsumed in processed form, its relatively heat-stable polyphenolics were confi rmed to be responsible for most of the benefi cialeffects. This review aims to show basic nutritional information on quince fruit such as carbohydrate, fi bre, pectin and mineralelement contents. In addition, vitamin and polyphenolic contents and composition as well as the physiological effects of quinceconsumption were also surveyed. Information on presumable protective effects against several diseases including infl ammation,atopic dermatitis, ulcers and cancer is summarized. Potential antibacterial effects of quince polyphenolics were also considered.Polyphenolics are supposed to be responsible for the major part of benefi cial health-effects, and phenolic compoundspredominantly accumulate in peel. There exists a considerable extent of genetic variation in phytochemical composition amongcultivars, which might be exploited in designing future breeding programs for quince improvement and opening new ways forhealth-related uses

A., Hegedűs

N., Papp

É., Stefanovits-Bányai

University of Debrecen Electronic Archive

 International Journal of Horticultural Science 2013, 19 (3–4): 29–32.
Agroinform Publishing House, Budapest, Printed in Hungary
ISSN 1585-0404
Introduction
Quince might be used in a several ways, many processed 
forms of this fruit gained worldwide popularity. Fruits can 
be processed into juices, jams and spirits. Persian physicians 
advised patients suffering from chronic recurrent headache to 
eat a quince before breakfast due to its apparent prophylactic 
effects (Gorji, 2003). Others suppose quince jam is beneﬁ cent 
in gastrointestinal disorders. In many countries throughout 
Europe, Asia and Africa, quince is used as a component in 
traditional dishes.
Nutritional composition
The nutritional composition of quince is compared with 
apple, a close relative of this fruit crop but consumed in great 
quantities. All data are expressed for 100 g fresh weight of 
whole fruits according to Bíró and Lindner (1999). Energy, 
protein, acid, carbohydrate, ash and ﬁ bre contents in quinces 
are higher than those in apples, while quince fruit contains 
less water (Table 1).
The contents of pectins in fruits ranged between 1.75 
and 3.51 g/100 g FW, and cultivar ‘Hruškovita’ accumulated 
pectins in greatest amount (Rop et al., 2011). The quince 
pectin had a high galacturonic content (78%), and a degree 
of methoxylation of about 60% corresponding to a medium-
high methoxyl pectin (Forni et al., 1994).
Vitamin C content of quince is nearly two-times higher 
than in apple (Bíró and Lindner, 1999) (Table 2), while other 
authors reported nearly identical quantities of ascorbic acid 
in quinces and apples (13 and 12 mg/100 g, respectively) 
(Souci et al., 2002). According to Bíró and Lindner (1999) 
apple contains more from most of the vitamins, while Souci 
et al. (2002) determined nearly identical amounts of vitamins 
in both fruit crops.
For Czech cultivars, the vitamin C contents in quince 
ranged from 50 to 80 mg/100 g intact fruit (ﬂ esh and peel 
together). Fruits of the cultivar ‘Muškatová’ contained the 
highest amount, 79.31 ± 2.01 g/100 g FW of acorbic acid 
(Rop et al., 2011). This value is deﬁ nitely higher than those 
speciﬁ ed in Table 2 or compared with the USDA reference 
value of 15 mg (USDA, 2012), which conﬁ rms that quince 
A review of nutritional value and putative health-effects 
of quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) fruit
Hegedûs, A.1, Papp, N.2 & Stefanovits-Bányai, É.2
1Corvinus University of Budapest, Faculty of Horticultural Science, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, 
1118 Budapest, Villányi út 29., Hungary; E-mail: hegedus.attila@uni-corvinus.hu
2Corvinus University of Budapest, Faculty of Food Science, Department of Applied Chemistry, 
1118 Budapest, Villányi út 29., Hungary
Summary: Quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) has been long regarded to be a health-promoting fruit. Although it is mainly 
consumed in processed form, its relatively heat-stable polyphenolics were conﬁ rmed to be responsible for most of the beneﬁ cial 
effects. This review aims to show basic nutritional information on quince fruit such as carbohydrate, ﬁ bre, pectin and mineral 
element contents. In addition, vitamin and polyphenolic contents and composition as well as the physiological effects of quince 
consumption were also surveyed. Information on presumable protective effects against several diseases including inﬂ ammation, 
atopic dermatitis, ulcers and cancer is summarized. Potential antibacterial effects of quince polyphenolics were also considered. 
Polyphenolics are supposed to be responsible for the major part of beneﬁ cial health-effects, and phenolic compounds 
predominantly accumulate in peel. There exists a considerable extent of genetic variation in phytochemical composition among 
cultivars, which might be exploited in designing future breeding programs for quince improvement and opening new ways for 
health-related uses.
Key words: Cydonia oblonga, health, nutrients, polyphenolics, quince
Table 1. Main nutritional composition of quince and apple (‘Jonathan’) 
fruits in 100 g fresh weight (Bíró and Lindner, 1999)
Energy
(kJ)
Protein
(g)
Acid
(g)
Carbo-
hydrate
(g)
Water
(g)
Ash
(g)
Fibre
(g)
Apple 130 0.4 0.4 7.0 90.5 0.4 1.3
Quince 176 0.6 0.9 9.1 86.9 0.6 1.9
6_Hegedus.indd   29 1/29/14   10:18 AM
Hegedûs, A., Papp, N. & Stefanovits-Bányai, É.30
cultivars are characterized by a great genetic variability. It 
was also conﬁ rmed by determining fruit antioxidant capacity 
and total polyphenolic contents in 12 commercial cultivars 
(Papp et al., in press).
Quince is a richer source of mineral elements compared 
to apple. The summarized quantity of the measured mineral 
elements is almost two-times higher in quince than apples 
(Table 3).
Table 3. Mineral element contents in 100 g quince and apple (‘Jonathan’) 
fruits (Bíró and Lindner, 1999)
Dimension Apple Quince
Na mg 2.0 9.2
K mg 112 189
Ca mg 5.5 66.0
Mg mg 6 10
Fe mg 0.3 1.1
P mg 8 25
Cu mg 0.028 0.006
Zn mg 0.046 0.013
Mn mg 0.037 0.002
Co mg 0.001 nd
Cr mg 0.002 nd
Ni mg 0.011 nd
Total quantity mg 133.9 300.3
The unique fragrance of quince fruit is attributable to 
the speciﬁ c composition of its essential oil (Schreyen et 
al., 1979; Tsuneya et al., 1983) in which the characteristic 
compounds were thought to be monoterpenic lactones and 
oxides (Tsuneya et al., 1983). In the early nineties, Lutz et 
al. (1991) indicated the presence of monoterpenic glucosides 
in quince, which were supposed to be the 
putative precursors of the lactones and 
oxides.
Polyphenolic composition of quince 
fruit
Qualitative and quantitative analyses of 
phenolic compounds were carried out on 
quince fruit samples from seven different 
geographical origins in Portugal (Silva et al., 
2002). Both fruit ﬂ esh and peel were analyzed 
by reversed-phase high performance liquid 
chromatography (HPLC) coupled with 
diode array detector or mass spectrometry. 
Differences were noted between the phenolic 
proﬁ les of ﬂ esh and peel in all studied cases. 
The ﬂ esh contained mainly caffeoylquinic 
acids (3-, 4-, and 5-O-caffeoylquinic acids 
and 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid) and rutin 
(quercetin 3-O-rutinoside). The peel presented the same 
caffeoylquinic acids and several ﬂ avonol glycosides: 
quercetin 3-galactoside, kaempferol 3-glucoside, kaempferol 
3-rutinoside, and several unidentiﬁ ed compounds. The 
highest content of phenolics was found in peels.
In Tunisian quinces, total phenolic contents of the ﬂ esh 
and peel parts ranged from 37 to 47 and 105 to 157 mg/100 
g of fresh weight, respectively (Fattouch et al., 2007). 
Chlorogenic acid (5-O-caffeoylquinic acid) was the most 
abundant phenolic compound in ﬂ esh (37%), whereas rutin 
was the main one in peel (36%).
A total of 26 polyphenolic compounds found in quince 
tissues were identiﬁ ed (Wojdylo et al., 2013): 9 ﬂ avan-3-ols 
including (−)-epicatechin, procyanidin B2, 3 procyanidin 
dimers and trimers, and 1 tetramer; 8 hydroxycinnamates 
(derivatives of caffeoylquinic and coumaroylquinic acid) 
and 9 kaempferol and quercetin derivatives. The content of 
total polyphenols ranged between 1709 and 3437 mg/100 g 
dry weight (‘Leskovač’). Flavan-3-ols, which form the major 
class of quince polyphenols, represented approx. the 78 and 
94% of the total polyphenolic content.
Putative health-effects of quince consumption
Quince was reported to have antiulcerative effects 
(Hamauzu et al., 2006). However, the strongest antiulcerative 
effect was declared for Chinese quince (Pseudocydonia 
sinensis C. K. Schneid.) on ethanol-induced gastric ulcers 
in rats. Pre-administration of Chinese quince and quince 
phenolics suppressed the occurrence of gastric lesions in 
rats, whereas apple phenolics seemed to promote ulceration. 
The antioxidative property of rat blood increased in all 
rats fed by quince phenolics. Ferulic acid and isoferulic 
acid were detected as major metabolites in rats consuming 
Table 2. The vitamin contents in 100 g fresh quince and apple (‘Jonathan’) fruit according to 
Bíró and Lindner (1999) and Souci et al. (2002)
Vitamin Dimension
Bíró and Lindner (1999) Souci et al. (2002)
Apple Quince Apple Quince
Retinol A μg 0.0 0.0 5.7 5.5
Carotene mg 0.05 nd 0.04 0.03
Calciferol D μg 0 0 nd nd
Tocopherol E mg 0.60 nd 0.49 nd
Thiamine B1 μg 50 25 35 30
Riboﬂ avin B2 μg 50 25 32 30
Niacin B3 mg 0.5 0.2 0.3 0.2
Pantothenic acid B5 mg 0.09 nd 0.10 nd
Pyridoxine B6 mg 0.070 nd 0.103 nd
Biotin B7 μg 1.0 nd 4.5 nd
Folic acid B9 μg 6.0 nd 7.5 nd
Cyanocobalamin B12 μg 0.0 0.0 nd nd
Ascorbic acid C mg 5 10 12 13
nd: non-detected
6_Hegedus.indd   30 1/29/14   10:18 AM
A review of nutritional value and putative health-effects of quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) fruit 31
apple phenolics, quince phenolics, and 5-caffeoylquinic 
acid standard. (-)-Epicatechin and its 3’-O-methyl ether 
were detected in rats administered apple phenolics and 
(-)-epicatechin standard. The results showed that Chinese 
quince and quince phenolics might have health beneﬁ ts by 
acting both in blood vessels and on the gastrointestinal tract.
Chronic inﬂ ammation is a hallmark of several diseases 
including diabetic complications, rheumatoid arthritis, 
inﬂ ammatory bowel disease, atherosclerosis and cancer. 
Essaﬁ -Benkhadir et al. (2012) reported the anti-inﬂ ammatory 
effect of a polyphenolic extract from Tunisian quince. 
Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment of human THP-1-
derived macrophages induced the secretion of high levels 
of the pro-inﬂ ammatory cytokine TNF-  and IL-8, which 
was inhibited by quince peel polyphenolic extract in a dose-
dependent manner. Quince polyphenols also enhanced the 
level of the anti-inﬂ ammatory cytokine IL-10 secreted by 
LPS-treated macrophages. Quince polyphenols inhibited 
the LPS-mediated activation of three major cellular pro-
inﬂ ammatory effectors (nuclear factor-kappa B, p38MAPK 
and Akt). These data indicate that quince peel polyphenolic 
extract induces a potent anti-inﬂ ammatory effect and that 
a quince-rich diet may help to prevent and improve the 
treatment of inﬂ ammation-associated diseases.
Shinomiya et al. (2009) examined the effect of a crude 
hot-water extract (HW) of quince fruit on type I allergy in 
vivo and in vitro. The oral administration of the quince HW-
added diet to NC/Nga mice (NC/Nga mice are known to 
exhibit spontaneous development of dermatitis) for 63 days 
showed a signiﬁ cant decrease in the development of atopic 
dermatitis-like skin lesions under conventional conditions. 
The concentration of IgE in the serum collected from mice 
fed with quince HW was lowered in a dose-dependent 
manner. Moreover, quince HW inhibited the release of beta-
hexosaminidase from rat basophilic leukaemia cells after a 
24-hour treatment. The quince HW fraction of less than 3 
kDa reduced the mRNA expression of the high-afﬁ nity IgE 
receptor (Fc RI)  subunit. These results suggest that quince 
HW had an inhibitory effect on type I allergy by suppressing 
IgE production and IgE-mediated degranulation.
Alesiani et al. (2010) identiﬁ ed several compounds 
with antiproliferative effects from quince peels although 
Carvalho et al. (2010) could not show inhibitory effects 
of quince fruit ﬂ esh and peel on human kidney and colon 
cancer cells. However, the extracts from leaf showed 
concentration-dependent growth inhibitory activity toward 
human colon cancer cells, while no effect was observed in 
renal adenocarcinoma. Seed extracts exhibited no effect on 
colon cancer cell growth, whereas strong antiproliferative 
efﬁ ciency was observed against renal cancer cells for the 
highest concentration tested (500 μg/mL).
The antimicrobial activity of quince extracts against 
different microorganism strains was investigated by Fattouch 
et al. (2007). Quince peel extract was the most active for 
inhibiting bacterial growth. It seems that chlorogenic acid 
acts in synergism with other components of the extracts to 
exhibit total antimicrobial activities. Thirty-four polyphenols 
were detected by Karar et al. (2013), nine of which were not 
reported previously in quince. The crude extract of quince 
fruit polyphenols showed antibacterial activity against the 
Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli. Five polyphenols, 
5-O-caffeoylquinic acid, quinic acid, quinic acid derivative, 
proanthocyanin B1 and methyl 5-O-caffeoylquinate were 
isolated and tested for their antibacterial activity. Quinic acid 
and a quinic acid derivative showed strong inhibition against 
E. coli.
An interesting study was published on the comparison of 
the phenolic proﬁ le and antioxidant potential of quince leaf 
and green tea (Camellia sinensis) (Costa et al., 2009). Quince 
leaf exhibited a signiﬁ cantly higher reducing power than 
green tea (mean value of 227.8 ± 34.9 and 112.5 ± 1.5 g/kg 
dry leaf, respectively). Quince leaf extracts showed similar 
2,2’-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging 
activities but signiﬁ cantly lower than that presented by green 
tea extract. Under the oxidative action of 2,2’-azobis(2-
amidinopropane) dihydrochloride, quince leaf methanolic 
extract signiﬁ cantly protected the erythrocyte membrane 
from hemolysis in a similar manner to that found for green 
tea. These results point to the fact that quince leaf may be 
applied as a preventive or therapeutic agent in diseases 
associated with free radical damage.
In conclusion, the review of the papers focused on quince 
phytochemical composition indicates a considerable extent 
of genetic variations among cultivars and also allowed to 
identify perspective therapeutic targets. Since polyphenolics 
are supposed to be responsible for the major part of beneﬁ cial 
health-effects, this information might be exploited in 
designing future breeding programs for quince improvement 
and opening new ways for health-related uses including the 
development of quince-based functional foods.
Acknowledgements
This work was ﬁ nanced by the OTKA K84290 grant. 
Attila Hegedûs is grateful for receiving a János Bolyai 
Scholarship, Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
References
Alesiani, D., Canini, A., D’Abrosca, B., DellaGreca, M., 
Fiorentino, A., Mastellone, C., Monaco, P. & Paciﬁ co, S. (2010): 
Antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of phytochemicals from 
quince (Cydonia vulgaris) peels. Food Chem., 118: 199–207.
Bíró Gy. & Lindner K. (1999): Tápanyagtáblázat. Medicina, 
Budapest
Carvalho, M., Silva, B.M., Silva, R., Valentao, P., Andrade, P.B. 
& Bastos, M.L. (2010): First report on Cydonia oblonga Miller 
anticancer potential: differential antiproliferative effect against 
human kidney and colon cancer cells. J. Agr. Food Chem., 58: 
3366–3370.
Costa, R.M., Magalhăes, A.S., Pereira, J.A., Andrade, P.B., 
Valentăo, P., Carvalho, M. & Silva, B.M. (2009): Evaluation 
6_Hegedus.indd   31 1/29/14   10:18 AM
Hegedûs, A., Papp, N. & Stefanovits-Bányai, É.32
of free radical-scavenging and antihemolytic activities of quince 
(Cydonia oblonga) leaf: A comparative study with green tea 
(Camellia sinensis). Food Chem. Toxicol., 47: 860–865.
Essaﬁ -Benkhadir, K., Refai, A., Riahi, I., Fattouch, S., Karoui, 
H. & Essaﬁ , M. (2012): Quince (Cydonia oblonga Miller) peel 
polyphenols modulate LPS-induced inﬂ ammation in human 
THP-1-derived macrophages through NF-κB, p38MAPK and Akt 
inhibition. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Com., 418: 180–185.
Fattouch, S., Caboni, P., Coroneo, V., Tuberoso, C.I.G., Angioni, 
A., Dessi, S., Marzouki, N. & Cabras, P. (2007): Antimicrobial 
activity of Tunisian quince (Cydonia oblonga Miller) pulp and peel 
polyphenolic extracts. J. Agr. Food Chem., 55: 963–969.
Forni, E., Penci, M., Polesello, A. (1994): A preliminary 
characterization of some pectins from quince fruit (Cydonia oblonga 
Mill.) and prickly pear (Opuntia ﬁ cus indica) peel. Carbohyd. 
Polym., 23: 231–234.
Gorji, A. (2003): Pharmacological treatment of headache using 
traditional Persian medicine. Trends Pharmacol. Sci., 24: 331–334.
Hamauzu, Y., Inno, T., Kume, C., Irie, M. & Hiramatsu, K. 
(2006): Antioxidant and antiulcerative properties of phenolics from 
Chinese quince, quince, and apple fruits. J. Agr. Food Chem., 54: 
765–772.
Karar, M.G.E., Pletzer, D., Jaiswal, R., Weingart, H. & 
Kuhnert, N. (2013): Identiﬁ cation, characterization, isolation and 
activity against Escherichia coli of quince (Cydonia oblonga) fruit 
polyphenols. Food Res. Int. (in press).
Lutz, A., Winterhalter, P. & Schreier, P. (1991): Isolation of a 
glucosidic precursor of isomeric marmelo oxides from quince fruit. 
Tetrahedron Lett., 32: 5943–5944.
Papp, N., Szabó, T., Szabó, Z., Nyéki, J., Stefanovits-Bányai, É. 
& Hegedûs, A. (2013): Antioxidant capacity and total polyphenolic 
content in quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) fruit. Int. J. Hort. Sci. 
(in press).
Rop, O., Balik, J., Řezniček, V., Jurikova, T., Škardova, P., Salaš, 
P., Sochor, J., Mlček, J. & Kramařova, D. (2011): Chemical 
characteristics of fruits of some selected quince (Cydonia oblonga 
Mill.) cultivars. Czech J. Food Sci., 29: 65–73.
Schreyen, L., Dirinck, P., Sandra, P. & Schamp, N. (1979): 
Flavor analysis of quince. J. Agr. Food Chem., 27: 872–876.
Shinomiya, F., Hamauzu, Y. & Kawahara, T. (2009): Anti-
allergic effect of a hot-water extract of quince (Cydonia oblonga). 
Biosci. Biotech. Bioch., 73: 1773–1778.
Silva, B.M., Andrade, P.B., Ferreres, F., Domingues, A.L., 
Seabra, R.M. & Ferreira, M.A. (2002): Phenolic proﬁ le of quince 
fruit (Cydonia oblonga Miller) (pulp and peel). J. Agr. Food Chem., 
50: 4615–4618.
Souci, S.W., Fachmann, W. & Kraut, H. (2008): Food composition 
and nutrition tables. Taylor and Francis, London.
Tsuneya, T., Ishihara, M., Shiota, H. & Shiga, M. (1983): 
Volatile components of quince fruit (Cydonia oblonga Mill.). Agr. 
Biol. Chem., 47: 2495–2502.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service 
(2012): USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, 
Release 25. http://www.ars.usda.gov/ba/bhnrc/ndl
Wojdylo, A., Oszmianski, J., Teleszko, M., Sokol-Letowska, 
A. (2013): Composition and quantiﬁ cation of major polyphenolic 
compounds, antioxidant activity and colour properties of quince 
and mixed quince jams. Int. J. Food Sci. Nutr. 64: 749–756.
6_Hegedus.indd   32 1/29/14   10:18 AM


review of nutritional value and putative health-effects of quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) fruit

https://dea.lib.unideb.hu/dea/bitstream/2437/261264/1/2013.3-4.-29-32.pdf

review of nutritional value and putative health-effects of quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) fruit

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

University of Debrecen Electronic Archive