Abstract:

In an attempt to solve the problems，such as concept confusion，no specified reference，no recognized method and standard，which were encountered in current studies of fruit nutrition values，we proposed a new‘Three Degree’（3D）method for future evaluation of fruit nutrition quality in this paper . By saying 3D，we mean the degree of diversity（DD），degree of match（DM）and degree of balance（DB）of the human essential nutrients contained in a fruit or its derived products. DD indicates the‘presence’or‘absence’of the different nutrients in a fruit，DM shows their percentages in meeting the daily needs of human body，and DB evaluates the‘ratio-relationships’among the nutrients. All 3D indices were calculated based on the daily human needs of the essential nutrients. Therefore，3D method revealed the relationship between the essential nutrients of a fruit or fruit product and their daily human needs. To our knowledge，this study was the first report on a comprehensive，systematic and normalized evaluation of fruit nutritive values. Our 3D index provided a potential new approach for the categorization，grading and control of fruit nutrition quality，and made it possible for a direct comparison of the nutritive values of different fruits and their derived products.

Key words: fruit and product, nutritive value, evaluation method, index system