Effects of the fruiting period and growing seasons on market quality in goji berry (Lycium barbarum L.)

Abstract

Progression of the vegetation period and change of year are associated with variations in general climatic parameters, such as temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, radiation, precipitation, wind speed and others. Only limited knowledge is available about the effects of these parameters on the characteristics of quality of fruits especially those with successive ripening such as goji berry. In our study, fruits of goji berry were characterised based on physico-chemical properties within four different harvest periods, in two consecutive years. Based on the obtained results, it was found that the pomological characteristics were superior at the beginning of the production season, while the phytochemical properties were better at the end. Fruit length, width and weight characteristics were noted to decrease from the first harvest to the last by 21%, 18% and 33%, respectively, while the total anthocyanin, phenol and antioxidant activity properties increased by 264%, 48% and 105%, respectively. There was a decrease in fruit weight, fruit length and fruit width up to 15.9%, 18.3% and 6%, respectively and were directly associated with yield due to sink competition among fruits. Providing high ripening index that ensures more acceptable fruits, with high soluble solid content (SSC) and titratable acidity (TA) seems to be a very important breeding objective to meet consumer demands thanks to superior organoleptic quality. According to correlations, the synthesis of phenolic compounds increased in parallel with SSC rise and TA, which improved pomological properties too. It is thought that the obtained results may indicate the cultural processes and evaluation methods to be used for the harvested fruits.

Biochemical characterization of fruits of Lycium spp. in Ukraine

“…Lycium chinense fruits contain higher titratable acidity (1.6-1.9%) than L. barbarum fruits (0.8-1.4%). But according to the data of Polat et al (2020), the titratable acidity content of L. barbarum fruits was significantly lower (0.48-0.62%) than shown in from the previous study. The titratable acidity of the fruit is also related to the harvest period and the colour of the goji fruit.…”

Some Phytochemical Characteristics of Cherry Cultivars and Relations Between These Characteristics

“…The highest value in terms of soluble solid content was found in 'Regina', while Starks Gold (13.17%) with white fruit skin and flesh colour and Early Burlat (14.91%) which is an early cultivar were found to have the lowest value in terms of this feature. In studies conducted with of different species, it has been reported that phytochemical accumulation is lower in early cultivars with a shorter period from full bloom to harvest and in the cultivars with lighter fruit flesh and skin color (Eskimez et al, 2020;Polat et al, 2020a). Conversely, as duration of remaining on the branch of the fruit increases, organic acids, which have a lower degradation coefficient in respiration than other compounds, are primarily used as breakdown products in metabolic events.…”

“…It is determined that obtained results are largely in line with previous studies. Although the differences are thought to be mainly caused by the variation of the examined varieties, differences in climate and soil characteristics, the geographical situation of the area where the cultivation is made, the type and time of harvest, the storage or processing of the crop, the method or periodic differences of the applied cultural processes cause significant differences on the final form of the phytochemical composition (Tiwari and Cummins, 2013;Polat et al, 2020a). Changes in phytochemical properties in parallel with the change of ecological factors and growing conditions were reported (Mertoğlu et al, 2020).…”

“…These two properties both with high antioxidant effect were found to be in a positive relationship with antioxidant activity as expected but contribution of total phenol (r = 0.92***) to antioxidant activity was found higher than vitamin C (r = 0.38*). Giampieri et al (2015) and Schempp et al (2016) stated that organic and phenolic acids show high antioxidant activity, and there are many studies reporting a high positive relationship between them (Akkurt et al, 2020;Polat et al, 2020a). In addition, amounts of these compounds increase in an acidic environment (Vieira et al, 2009;Mertoğlu and Evrenosoğlu, 2019).…”

Morphological Diversity among Accessions of Apple Tree (Malus × Domestica Borkh)

“…It is one of the most important commercially grown horticultural crops in temperate zones of the world [7,8]. Apples are rich in antioxidants such as α-tocopherol that have antiageing and anticancer properties [8][9][10]. Furthermore, apples have a unique flavour that makes them acceptable by many consumers worldwide [11].…”