Abstract: 【Objective】The study was to investigate the effects of different maturation periods on the quality of not from concentrate (NFC) apple juices, and to clarify the differences of physicochemical properties in NFC juices, in order to provide theoretical basis for juice industry.【Method】NFC juices of twenty-two varieties from different maturation periods were prepared by squeezing, inactivating enzymes, pasteurization and hot filling. By determining their physicochemical properties including the total soluble solids (TSS) content, pH, titratable acidity (TA), TSS/TA, turbidity, color quality and polyphenol constituents, the property differences among these juices were evaluated by variance analysis. Additionally, principal component analysis (PCA) and liner discriminant analysis (LDA) were applied to classify twenty-two juices so as to illuminate the differences in physicochemical properties of NFC juices.【Result】The total soluble solids content of all NFC juices increased with the extended maturation period, and the pH in early and early-medium and medium mature varieties were relatively lower than those of medium-late and late mature varieties, as suggested by the analysis of physicochemical properties. The results of PCA showed that the NFC juices of early maturity and early-medium and medium maturity could be split in the same category, featuring the low contents of TSS. Additionally, the NFC juices of medium-late and late maturity were intersected on PCA score chart. ‘Yuhuazaofu’ ‘Jonathan’ ‘Delicious’ ‘Starkrimson’ ‘Granny Smith’ ‘Nagafu 2’ and ‘Indo’ constituted the group with the characteristic of low TSS/TA and high content of TA, indicating the sour taste. And ‘Qinhong’ ‘Jiguan’ ‘Newworld’ ‘Qinguan’ and ‘Pink lady’ formed the same group which was characterized by high brightness and turbidity. ‘Huali’ and ‘Hanfu’ were the same group with high TSS content and relatively low pH and TSS/TA. With the similar results of PCA, LDA implied that early maturity and early-medium and part medium maturity NFC juices showed the close physicochemical properties; Nevertheless, no significant difference between medium-late and late maturity was observed. Ultra high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) analysis demonstrated that the NFC apple juices predominantly possessed chlorogenic acid, procyanidin B2, epicatechin and epigallocatechin. The NFC juices from 22 varieties had the same individual polyphenol components but different contents (P＜0.05). 【Conclusion】The NFC juices of early maturity and early-medium and medium maturity were different in the physicochemical properties compared with the varieties of medium-late and late maturity. Thus, maturity should be taken into consideration as a primary index when producing NFC apple juices.

Key words: apple, maturation, not from concentrate, multivariate statistical analysis, physicochemical properties