Abstract
Fruits of Lycium possess therapeutic properties due to which they are used in traditional and folk medicine and can be used as a kind of functional food. The objective of this study was to evaluate the biochemical characterization of Lycium L. (L. barbarum L., L. chinense Mill. and L. truncatum Y. C. Wang) fruits for 16 cultivars and varieties from the collections in the M. M. Gryshko National Botanical Garden of NAS of Ukraine (Kyiv). This study was aimed at determining the concentration of nutrients in the Lycium fruits. Individual genotypes of three Lycium species: L. barbarum, L.chinense, and L. truncatum, differed in such features as the content of dry matter, sugars, vitamin C, β-carotene, acidity, and tannins in the fruit. Fruits of Lycium spp. are a valuable source of nutrients such as vitamin C (4.38–121.0 mg 100g–1 FW), β-carotene content (1.45–5.52%), and tannin (0.12–1.34%). The sugar content (13.83–20.87%) and acidity of the fruit (0.23–4.62%) meet the consumers' requirements for fresh fruit. The cultivar Amber Sweet (L. chinense) had fruits of which the similarities between biochemical characteristics of different studies genotypes were the lowest. The cv. Amber Sweet was characterized by fruit with high sugar content, very high vitamin C content, average acid content, low tannins and β-carotene content, and the lowest dry matter content. Furthermore, a distinctive feature of the other tested genotypes was the yellow colour of the fruit. The data obtained can be used for further selective work.
Highlights
Some neglected and underutilized species of plants, namely, Cydonia oblonga Mill. (Monka et al, 2014), Sambucus nigra (Horčinová Sedláčková et al, 2018, 2019), Cornus mas L. (Klymenko et al, 2019), Aronia mitschurinii A
The investigated Lycium spp. fruits planted in Ukraine are a good source of essential nutrients such as vitamin C, β-carotene content, and tannins
The findings of the present study revealed that 16 Lycium germplasms were diverse based on biochemical assessment approaches
Summary
Some neglected and underutilized species of plants, namely, Cydonia oblonga Mill. (Monka et al, 2014), Sambucus nigra (Horčinová Sedláčková et al, 2018, 2019), Cornus mas L. (Klymenko et al, 2019), Aronia mitschurinii A. Some neglected and underutilized species of plants, namely, Cydonia oblonga Mill. (Vinogradova et al, 2020), containing biologically active compounds with human health-enhancing properties known for hundreds or thousands of years have experienced a renaissance and have aroused interest in the world of science in the last decade (Klymenko et al, 2017; Konarska, 2018). It is very important to introduce and grow lesser-known and non-traditional plant species, namely, Pseudocydonia sinensis (Thouin) C. (Monka et al, 2014; Grygorieva et al, 2020), Castanea sativa Mill. (Grygorieva et al, 2017), Ziziphus jujuba Mill. (Grygorieva et al, 2018a, 2018b, 2018c). Species of the genus Lycium L. belong to this group of plants, since they have long been used in Chinese traditional and folk herbal medicine due to their therapeutic properties
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