Morphological and Biochemical Characterization of Diverse Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo L.) Genotypes from Northern Turkey

Abstract

Wild edible fruits have been used centuries by local people mainly for nutrition purposes and they have attracted the attention of researchers in the last decade throughout the world. Among wild edible fruits, the strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) is widely distributed mainly in Mediterranean countries. However, the lack of information about strawberry tree genetic resources in Mediterranean countries is a major cause of its low exploitation by breeders. For a practical use and exploitation of the strawberry tree native germplasm, phenological, morphological, and biochemical characterization of the plant is essential. In this study, some important phenological, morphological, and biochemical characteristics of sixteen local strawberry tree genotypes were determined. Significant variations (p < 0.05) were observed in most of the investigated phenological, morphological, and biochemical traits of the genotypes. The genotypes were harvested between 2–21 November. The fruit weight and the number of fruits per cluster of the genotypes varied from 3.89 to 6.86 g and 3.61 to 7.94, respectively. Vitamin C and total dietary fiber contents of genotypes were found quite variable, ranging from 58 to 93 mg/100 g and 7.04 to 12.36 g/100 g, respectively. The fruits of the strawberry tree include mainly fructose and glucose rather than sucrose. Local strawberry tree genotypes are found to be promising for further valorization through horticultural characteristics for breeding. Some genotypes had significantly higher fruit weight, vitamin C concentrations, total dietary fiber, and total phenolic concentration and may be good selections for producing health products.

Comparative Study on the Phenolic Fingerprint and Antioxidant Activity of Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo L.) Leaves and Fruits

“…As for phenolic acids, gallic acid was quantified only in fruit samples in the range of 19.30 mg/kg dw (Mali Lošinj, methanol extract) to 25.80 mg/kg dw (Koločep, MeOH extract). As previously reported in the literature [ 14 , 22 , 30 ], gallic acid was the most predominant phenolic acid in fruits. Protocatechuic acid, aesculin, chlorogenic acid, syringic acid, p -coumaric acid, ferulic acid, myricetin, naringenin, and kaempferol were not quantified in fruit samples.…”

Biological Potential of Fruit and Leaves of Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo L.) from Croatia

“…So, higher vitamin C content is expected in the areas with more sunny days such as locations in central and south Dalmatia, with the exception of the Istrian area, compared to the areas with lower annual values of sunny days. Regardless of the location, in fruits of all analyzed populations, high vitamin C contents were determined, which is in agreement with other studies [13,30], or even higher compared to the values obtained from research from Turkey [31]. Besides from the strawberry tree fruit, the leaves of the researched species are specifically high in vitamin C content.…”

“…In general, it can be concluded that the fruits collected from studied areas characterized by higher air temperatures and lower amounts of precipitation (central and south Dalmatia) tended to produce and accumulate higher amounts of polyphenols [38,39]. According to the results of the polyphenol profiles of strawberry tree leaves (Table 2), leaves are also a rich source of these phytochemicals [1,31]. This is of a great importance due to the further possible usage of strawberry tree leaves, especially as a raw materials for the extraction of valuable phenols, which than can then be used in the production of various products for number of phyto-therapeutic purposes.…”

“…Polyphenols are present in all plant organs and tissues and are mainly concentrated in the fruit skin and leaves [35]. Numerous studies emphasize that strawberry tree fruits are a rich source of polyphenolic compounds, especially from the phenolic acids and flavonoids groups [31,36,37]. Results of total phenol (TPC), total non-flavonoid (TNFC) and total flavonoid (TFC) contents of strawberry tree fruits and leaves are presented in Table 2.…”

Diversity of Phytochemical and Antioxidant Characteristics of Black Mulberry (Morus nigra L.) Fruits from Turkey

“…For the sensory analysis of the fruit, the methodology developed at Ataturk University was used [ 23 ]. A trained panel of five experts evaluated three sensory features (taste, juiciness, and aroma) of black mulberry fruits for each genotype.…”