BackgroundThe Hawthorn (Crateagus sp.) mostly occurs around the temperate region of the world with a high number of species, producing a fruit with numerous beneficial effects for human health. The aim of the study was to determine organic acid and sugar contents in the fruit of a number of hawthorn species grown in Erzincan province of Turkey.ResultsCitric acid was the predominant organic acid in all hawthorn species and C. pseudoheterophylla had the highest citric acid content (23.688 g/100 g). There were not statistically significant differences among hawthorn species (except C. atrosanguinea Pojark) in terms of fumaric acid content. C.pontica C.Koch had a higher content of vitamin C (9.418 mg/100 g) compared to other species. Fructose was the predominant sugar component in all species and C. monogyna subsp. monogyna Joiq had the highest fructose content (18.378 g/100 g).ConclusionsThe high fruit quality of the studied species indicates the importance of this fruit in human nutrition as a natural source. The study revealed that there were differences in terms of fruit characteristics among hawthorn species and thus better quality hawthorn genotypes can be selected within the species. Hence, this study is considered to be a valuable reference for forthcoming studies. The high fruit quality of the studied species indicates the importance of this fruit in human nutrition as a natural source.

No abstract

Fire blight resistance of apple, pear and quince genetic resources from Lake Van Basin (eastern Turkey) was tested using Erwinia amylovora strain Ea Van. Shoot tips of 92 native accessions (48 accessions for apple, 38 accessions for pear and 6 accessions for quince) were wounded for inoculation, and artificially inoculated with pathogenic bacteria under greenhouse conditions. The levels of resistance of accessions were classified in comparison with control varieties according to the genotype susceptibility index (GSI%) scores based on the lesion length on shoots of each genotype. Fire blight resistance of accessions consisted of five classes: resistant (R), moderately resistant (MR), moderately susceptible (MS), susceptible (S) and highly susceptible (HS). GSI% scores differed significantly among accessions from each fruit species (p<0.01). GSI values ranged from 12.4% to 64.1% for apple genotypes, from 17.2% to 55.1% for pear genotypes, and from 17.8% to 43.4% for quince genotypes. No resistant genotypes of apple, pear and quince were observed. Seven accessions of apple, two accessions of pear and one accession of quince were MR. 25 accessions of apple, 14 accessions of pear and one accession of quince were MS. These findings indicate a considerable variation in fire blight resistance and could contribute to breeding efforts regarding fire blight resistance in apple, pear and quince.

In this study, 14 well-adapted genotypes of pistachio (Pistachio vera L.) grown in Diyarbakır (Southeastern Turkey) and 15 walnut (Juglans regia L.) genotypes grown in Erzincan (Eastern Turkey) have been studied. Pistachio genotypes contained 8.16-9.33% palmitic acid, 0.54-0.68% palmitoleic acid, 2.35-4.21% stearic acid, 67.81-76.82% oleic acid, 9.42-18:32% linoleic acid, 0.27-0.38% linolenic acid and 0.19-0.33 % arachidic acid. The range of selenium, α-tocopherol, γ-tocopherol, δ-tocopherol, α-tocotrienoid, γ-tocotrienoid and total carotenoid of these promising genotypes were found to be between 11.44 and 190.71 ng/g, 1.36 and 26.93, 36.17 and 170, 0.45 and 2.61, 0.96 and 3.76, 2.33 and 37.72 and 1.01 and 4.93 mg/kg, respectively. Linoleic acid ranging from 43.19% to 53.16% was the most abundant fatty acid in 15 pomologically selected walnut genotypes, followed by oleic and linolenic acids (31.91% and 11.46%, respectively). Their selenium contents ranged between 7.25 and 57.67 ng/g. γ-Tocopherol was the predominant tocopherol in walnut genotypes. Pistachio and walnut genotypes with higher unsaturated fatty acids, tocopherols and selenium contents may be valuable for nutritional breeding efforts.

No abstract