Morphological, physicochemical and antioxidant comparison of medicinal date-plum fruit (Diospyros lotus L.) in three regions of Hyrcanian forests
Mohammad Emadoddini
1
(
Gorgan University of agricultural sciences and natural resources
)
اسماعیل سیفی
2
(
استادیار گروه علوم باغبانی، دانشگاه علوم کشاورزی و منابعطبیعی گرگان، گرگان، ایران
)
Keywords: Anthocyanin, Antioxidant, Date-plum, Flavonoid, Hyrcanian forest, Phenol, Wild persimmon,
Abstract :
The Hyrcanian forests, located along the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, are a unique and ancient ecosystem. To preserve their genetic reserves, it is essential to examine the diversity of medicinal plants in these forests, including the date-plum or wild persimmon (Diospyros lotus L.). The aim of this research was to evaluate the native date-plum fruit harvested from three regions of the Hyrcanian forests including Gorgan, Aliabad, and Behshahr in terms of morphological, physicochemical, and antioxidant traits. Fruit samples were collected in November 2021 during commercial-local harvest and evaluated. The obtained results showed that the highest fruit weight, diameter, and volume were recorded in samples collected from Behshahr, while the lowest weight, length, diameter, and fruit volume were observed in fruits belonging to Gorgan. This research indicated that fruits collected from Behshahr were more elongated compared to Gorgan and Aliabad. The comparison of qualitative traits confirmed that the highest acidity and vitamin C content were observed in Behshahr; on the other hand, the highest pH and total soluble solids were recorded in the fruit samples of Gorgan. The maximum total phenol and flavonoid was related to Aliabad and Behshahr. Finally, the highest total anthocyanin and antioxidant capacity was observed in Gorgan. Furthermore, this study found that fruit weight had a significant positive correlation with acidity but showed a significant negative correlation with pH and antioxidant capacity. Also, Fruit acidity had a significant negative correlation with antioxidant capacity and total anthocyanin. In contrast, pH and total soluble solids showed a significant positive correlation with total anthocyanin. In general, a great diversity was observed among the medicinal fruit of the wild date-plum collected from the three investigated regions in Hyrcanian forests with regard to the morphological, physicochemical, and antioxidant activity.
