Some Morphological and Biochemical Characteristics of Wild Grown Caucasian Whortleberry (Vaccinium arctostaphylos L.) Genotypes from Northeastern Turkey

Gursel OZKAN,Gulce ILHAN,Halil Ibrahim SAGBAS,Sezai ERCISLI,Guleray AGAR,Alam ZEB

doi:10.15835/nbha47111288

Abstract

Some important morphological such as fruit weight, fruit external color, fruit shape, the number of berry per cluster, cluster color, plant crown habit, harvest date and biochemical characteristics including sugars, organic acids, total phenolics, total anthocyanins, and antioxidant capacity of thirteen wild grown Caucasian whortleberry sampled from Coruh valley, in northeastern Turkey, were determined. Antioxidant capacity was measured as FRAP assay (ferric reducing antioxidant power). Significantly differences were found among genotypes for most of the selected morphological and biochemical features. The genotypes had in general black fruit color and round shape. Harvest date varied from 2 August to 12 August. Fruit weight ranged from 0.37 to 1.08 g. Genotypes had only fructose and glucose in their fruits as sugars. Citric acid was dominant organic acids and was found between 8.87 and 11.20 g per kg of fresh fruits and followed by tartaric acid (2.85-3.30 g/kg). Fruits of genotypes exhibited very high total phenolic content, which ranged from 3740 to 5541 µg per g on a fresh weight basis. Total anthocyanin contents were between 81 and 172 µg of delphinidin-3-glucoside equivalent in per g fresh fruit indicating great diversity.

Highlights

Fruits in particular wild relatives show great morphological and biochemical diversity
There were no significant differences in morphological and biochemical characteristics during the selected two years, the data were pooled from both years
Celik and Koca (2013) reported fruit weight of 6 Caucasian whortleberry genotypes naturally grown under forests as wild in Rize province of Turkey. between 0.52 and 1.19 g indicating a wide variability

Summary

Introduction

Fruits in particular wild relatives show great morphological and biochemical diversity. They are a rich source of organic acids, sugars, fibers, minerals, etc. Wild edible fruits have rich in ascorbic acid, tocopherol, anthocyanins, phenolics, and carotenoids such as βcarotene. These compounds contribute significantly to their antioxidant activity. Berries are one of the richest groups which serve as powerful antioxidants due to its wide variety of anthocyanins and high phenolic contents. Blue, purple and black colored berries indicating high anthocyanins and they exhibit a wide variety of biological activity and promote health (Veberic et al, 2009; ParedesLopez et al, 2010; Ercisli et al, 2012a; Landete, 2012; Milivojevic et al 2012)

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Conclusion