Physico-chemical and antioxidant properties of new sweet cherry cultivars from Iaşi, Romania
¹ Department of Genetic and Breeding, Fruit Growing Research Station, Romanian Academy of Agriculture and Forestry, Voineşti Road, 175, Iaşi, Romania; 2 Research Centre for Oenology, Romanian Academy, Sadoveanu Alley, 9, Iaşi, Romania 3 Department of Horticultural Technologies, Faculty of Horticulture, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Sadoveanu Alley, 3, Iaşi, Romania *Correspondence: sorinas66@gmail.com
Abstract:
Fruit samples analyzed in this paper were harvested in 2008 and 2009 from seven new sweet cherry cultivars, namely ‘Cetăţuia’, ‘Cătălina’, ‘Bucium’, ‘Golia’, ‘Maria’, ‘Ştefan’, ‘Tereza’, as well as from the cultivar ‘Boambe de Cotnari’, which is most widespread in the Iaşi area, in North-Eastern Romania. The period from flowering to full maturity was between 56–76 days. ‘Cetăţuia’ and ‘Cătălina’ were the earliest cultivars, while ‘Boambe de Cotnari’ and ‘Maria’, the latest ripening ones. Fruit width ranged between 17.0 mm and 23.0 mm and fruit weight ranged from 3.9 g and 7.4 g, but statistical differences between ‘Boambe de Cotnari’, ‘Bucium’, and ‘Maria’ were non-significant. Soluble solids content in different cultivars was between 14.5 °Brix and 17.8 °Brix. The lowest values were recorded in ‘Golia’ and ‘Ştefan’, and the highest, in ‘Boambe de Cotnari’. The lowest values of reducing sugar content were in cultivars ‘Golia’ and ‘Bucium’ (9.5 g 100 g-1 fresh fruit), while ‘Ştefan’ and ‘Cetăţuia’ had the highest reducing sugar content (12.2 g 100 g-1 fresh fruit). Titratable acidity was between 0.5 and 0.9 g malic acid 100 g-1 fresh fruit, ‘Cătălina’ and ‘Golia’ having the lowest values, while ‘Tereza’ and ‘Bucium’ had the largest. The antioxidant capacity of fruits, expressed as mg ascorbic acid 100 mL-1 fruit’s methanolic extract, ranged between 4.2 (in ‘Bucium’) and 18.6 (in ‘Ştefan’). There was a non-significant relationship between the number of days from full bloom until fruit maturation and chemical properties.
Key words:
antioxidant capacity, cultivar, physico-chemical properties, sweet cherry