Morphological and Biochemical Characteristics of Fruits of Different Cornelian Cherry (Cornus mas L.) Genotypes from Spontaneous Flora

Abstract

The current study was carried out on six local cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L.) genotypes, grown in Turceni town (Gorj county) and Baita village (Hunedoara county), in Romania. Several morphological and biochemical characteristics of cultivars were determined. Fruit weight and fruit flesh ratio of the analyzed genotypes ranged from 1.33 to 2.31 g and 61.53 to 78.58% respectively. Soluble solid contents were determined, the lowest noted as 10% and the highest as 25.5%. Results have shown that there was a high diversity in cornelian cherry populations within different ecological areas. Differences were exhibited in terms of fruit size and biochemical characteristics. The results of the study are useful for attempting to select superior genotypes of cornelian cherry for culture.