Morphological and Biochemical Diversity in Fruits of Arbutus unedo L. from East Aegean Region in Turkey

Abstract

Proper characterization of genotypes and cultivars of different fruit species are of great importance for breeding point. Thus, both morphological and biochemical markers are routinely used to describe cultivars and genotypes. In this study, the morphological (fruit weight, fruit number per cluster, color), biochemical (total phenolics, total dietary fibre, total fat, vitamin C, sugars and organic acids) and antioxidant capacity existing in 15 promising strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) genotypes selected from Mugla province in Turkey has been investigated. It turns out that a great difference in the values indicating morphological and biochemical characteristics exists among strawberry tree genotypes. Fruit weight comes out as between 4.67 and 7.88 g. The number of fruit per cluster is identified as between 3.77 and 8.60. Fructose is determined as the dominant sugar and malic acid as the major organic acid for all genotypes. Vitamin C and total dietary fibre content range from 46 to 62 mg/100 g and 9.74 to 13.28 g/100 g fresh fruits, respectively.