Pomological Characteristics of Some Autochthonous Genotypes of Cornelian Cherry (Cornus mas L.) in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L.) is a perennial deciduous shrub, widespread in forest populations in Southeast Europe with tolerance against some pests and diseases and rich in nutrients such as organic acids, carotenoids, anthocyanins, polyphenols, vitamin C and vitamin E. The aim of this paper was to determine basic pomological and technological characteristics of Cornelian cherry using three forest populations at Visegrad, Gorazde and Drvar in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the two years, 2010 and 2011. The Cornelian cherries weighted from 1.8 g (Gorazde in 2011) to 2.6 g per fruit (Drvar in 2010), did not ripen homogenously on a tree as shown by the large variation in their red colour CIE- a values of between 7.5 (Drvar), 14.2 (Gorazde) and 18.3 (Visegrad) and soluble solids between 16.1 (Visegrad) and 17.6 % (Gorazde). The most abundant organic acid in Cornelian cherry was malic acid with 35–43 g kg−1 FM, followed by tartaric (1.1–2.8 g kg−1 FM) and citric acid (0.1–1.8 g kg−1 FM) and smaller amounts of quinic, shikimic and fumaric acid below 0.05 g kg−1 FM each, resulting in sugar:acid ratios of 3.3:4.7 and slightly acidic or bitter flavour. The concentration of the phenolic compounds of the Cornelian cherry fruits, as determined by HPLC-MS, was influenced by the growing region with large concentrations of the anthocyanin procyanidin B1 (0.7–0.9 g kg−1 FM) and B2 (0.1–0.2 g kg−1 FM) and the peonidin 3-glucoside (0.2–0.7 g kg−1 FM) and the flavonol quercetin 3-O-robinobioside (1.8–2.6 mg kg−1 FM), which is larger than in many sweet and sour cherries, raspberry, red current and gooseberry.