Morphological and Biochemical Characterization of Wild Sour Cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) Germplasm

Abstract

Turkey has rich sour cherry germplasm and wild-grown sour cherry trees and shrubs in abundance throughout the country. Turkish people prefer to consume sour cherry fruits in processed form as jam and juice rather than fresh. This study was conducted in the Ispir district, located in northeastern Turkey. Some important morphological (aroma, fruit and juice color, fruit flesh ratio, fruit shape, fruit weight, and harvest date) and biochemical (total antioxidant capacity, soluble solid content, total acidity, total anthocyanin, total phenolic, vitamin C, and cancer cell proliferation inhibition activity) characteristics of 26 wild-grown sour cherry genotypes were evaluated. The results show that wild sour cherry genotypes differ from each other in terms of most of the morphological and biochemical characteristics. The genotypes exhibited wide variation of harvest dates (occurring between 28 June and 2 August), fruit weight (2.04 g–3.16 g), total phenolic content (240–320 mg gallic acid equivalent/100 g), total anthocyanin content (135–205 mg cyanidin-3-glucosylrutinoside equivalent/100 g), and antioxidant capacity (7.75–11.80 mmol Trolox/100 g). The majority of wild genotypes had higher cancer cell proliferation inhibition activity than cv. Kutahya. The results indicate that the wild sour cherry fruits presented here have appropriate characteristics such as being well adapted to climate conditions. The bioactive content of fruits could provide new agricultural and industrial prospects.