*4.6. Phenolic Compounds*

Phenolic compounds also play an important role in cherry quality since they influence the appearance, taste and nutritional value of fruit [1]. The most representative classes of cherry phenolic compounds are anthocyanins, hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives and flavan-3-ols, while flavanols (such as rutin) have also been determined [1,54,59].

C-3-rut is the major anthocyanin in cherries, comprising approximately up to 95% of TAN [1]. The present values of c-3-rut ranging between 1.13 and 3.07 mg g−<sup>1</sup> DW, are in agreement with other cherry studies [36,52]. It is of interest that the averaged c-3 rut values in controls were the lowest throughout storage, whereas those in fruit coated with OFI extracts were the highest after 28 d of storage, and indeed were higher than the initial values. P-3-glc showed a similar trend of changes, but after 28 d of storage the levels of all treated cherries with ECS were close to the initials, being 2.4-fold higher than controls. C-3-glc and m-3-glc were minor anthocyanins in 'Regina'. The present c-3-glc

values are very similar to other 'Regina' studies [36,52], while p-3-glc and m-3-glc are in accordance with those found in other cultivars by Gonçalvez et al. [54] and Martini et al. [59], respectively. Regarding the acids chlorogenic and neochlorogenic, as well as the flavan-3-*O*-ols catechin and epicatechin, their concentrations are comparable with other 'Regina' studies [36,52], while their changes followed the pattern of anthocyanins. At the end of storage, G50 exhibited the highest catechin concentration.

Therefore, at the end of storage, the OFI extracts were the most effective in containing higher c-3-rut levels even than the initial ones, while G50 in the highest catechin concentration.
