Investigation of properties of biologically active substances and their content in cones of ukrainian hop varieties

Introduction. According to the data of foreign studies, prenyl fl avonoids and bitter substances of hop have signifi cant antioxidant, antiviral, antimicrobial, anti-infl ammatory and anti-carcinogenic properties. Methods. A complex of the following methods was used: a monographic method, analysis, synthesis and comparison, mathematical-statistical and modern physical-chemical methods of determining qualitative indices of hop, special and common in hop-growing industry, which allowed obtaining scientifi cally valid results. Results. The modern level of knowledge about biologically active compounds of hop and their properties was analyzed, in particular, bitter substances and xanthohumol. The quantitative and qualitative content of bitter substances, essential oil and xanthohumol in hop varieties of Ukrainian, European and American breeding was studied. Among the Ukrainian varieties, the highest amount of xanthohumol was found in Ruslan and Xanthus varie- ties – 1.16 % and 1.06 % against dry substances respectively, and its minimal amount was detected in the cones of the bitter Alta variety. Among the European varieties, the highest amount of this substance is contained in the German variety HallertauerTaurus – 0.9–1.0 %, up to 1 % in the Czech variety Agnus and the English va- riety Admiral, with the content of 0.95 %–1.09 %. There is a strong correlation between the accumulation of xanthohumol and alpha acids in the formation and ripening of the cones. The maximal amount of xanthohumol is formed in the hop cones in the phase of complete technical ripeness. The content of this substance in hop cones depends on the breeding variety and is a varietal trait, genetically fi xed for each variety. The quantitative amount of xanthohumol may be one of biochemical criteria of identifying the variety. Conclusions. By their characteristics, the Ukrainian hop varieties correspond to the world’s analogues, namely, according to their bio- chemical and technological indices, hop varieties Klon-18 and Zlato Polissia correspond to the characteristics of the hop of the Czech Saaz variety, the biochemical indices of the bitter Alta variety correspond to the Ger- man variety Magnum, and such varieties as Slovianka and Zahrava exceed the world’s analogues considerably in the composition and quality of bitter substances and essential oils and are unique.