Phyllometry and carpometry, chemical and functional characterization of fruits of Sorbus domestica L. (service tree) selections

Abstract

Service tree (Sorbus domestica L.) belongs to a large genus of plants, that in the past characterized the agricultural landscape of large areas of Europe. In the light of recent acquisitions regarding nutraceutical and functional properties of service fruits in allied Sorbus species, our work aimed at the morphological description, evaluation of fruit quality and functionalnutraceutical properties of the same accessions selected for timber, in order to identify double aptitude plants. Morphological and chemical differences among plant selections were found particularly for titratable acidity and red colour of the skin: bletting contributed to mitigate such differences. Chromatograms obtained by reversed-phase HPLC analysis indicated that the phenolic compounds present in the matrix may be assimilated to three main classes of compounds: gallic acid, its derivative and polymeric tannins. Acids and flavonols were present in much lower quantities this indicating that the main phenolic compounds nature of our service fruit selections were hydrolysable tannins. A linear and positive correlation was found between the two methods, DPPH-EPR and CAB, used to assay antioxidant capacity this indicating that easy to manage DPPH-EPR assay may be used for substrates that are high in phenols as the case of service fruits. Our original hypothesis of wide variability among trees was finally confirmed by discriminant analysis which admitted most of the recorded variables, and showed each plant selection as a case in itself.

Fresh fruits and jam of Sorbus domestica L. and Sorbus intermedia (Ehrh.) Pers.: Phenolic profiles, antioxidant action and antimicrobial activity

“…The limited published data regarding the antioxidant potential of S. domestica fruits (Termentzi et al 2006;Egea et al 2010;Piagnanini et al 2012) indicate that they possess a moderate antiradical capacity toward DPPH • and • NO, which is in reasonable agreement with the results obtained herein. Also, Termentzi et al (2006) demonstrated higher antioxidant activity of methanol extracts compared to water extracts, as we also confirmed.…”

“…Furthermore, the work of other investigators indicates S. domestica fruits to be a valuable source of chlorogenic acid (Forino et al 2015), whereas it was not identified in the present study. Similarly, gallic acid was previously detected in fruits of S. domestica (Piagnanini et al 2012), but it was not quantified in the present study. The listed differences between authors in regard to phenolic profiles could be affected by various factors apart from experimental conditions, such as the stage of fruit maturity, genetic factors, environmental considerations and stress (Pandey & Rizvi 2009).…”

“…Nevertheless, there are only a few studies on the content of phenolics (Ölschläger et al 2004;Termentzi et al 2008a, b;Piagnanini et al 2012;Forino et al 2015), carotenoids (Egea et al 2010), vitamins (A, B 2 and C) (Brindza et al 2009;Egea et al 2010;Altuntas et al 2015) and micro-and macroelements (Majić et al 2015) in S. domestica fruits. Also, their notable antioxidant potential was reported previously (Ölschläger et al 2004;Termentzi et al 2006;Egea et al 2010;Piagnanini et al 2012;Forino et al 2015). A more detailed report on the antioxidant action of S. domestica fruits, together with data indicating significant differences in the profile and content of phenolics at different stages of fruit maturity, was given by Termentzi et al (2006).…”

Morphological and Chemical Diversity and Antioxidant Capacity of the Service Tree (Sorbus domestica L.) Fruits from Two Eco-Geographical Regions

“…Edible fruits characterizing this species make it an ideal model for the determination and further analysis of morphological and chemical diversity of populations. To date, only several studies of the morphological characteristics [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ] and/or chemical composition [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ] of the fruits have been carried out on the service tree. The fruit’s chemical composition was studied by different analyses including total phenols, flavonoids and tannins, macro- and micro-elements, and determination of antioxidant activity.…”

Use of Leaf and Fruit Morphometric Analysis to Identify and Classify White Mulberry (Morus alba L.) Genotypes

“…Despite their good discriminatory potential, fruit descriptors have only been successfully used in a few cases compared to leaves, probably because of their relatively short presence on the plant. For example, fruit descriptors have been used to characterize cultivars in fig (Ficus carica L.) [22], olive (Olea europaea L.) [23], sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) [24], and Sorbus domestica L. [25]. In our experience, white mulberry fruits may vary greatly in color, size, and shape among cultivars, suggesting good discriminatory potential.…”