PHYSICOCHEMICAL SUBSTANCES AND BIOACTIVE COMPONENTS OF WILD CORNELIAN CHERRY (Cornus mas L.) FRUITS IN ERZİNCAN PROVINCE OF EASTERN TURKEY FIZIČKO-HEMIJSKE SUPSTANCE I BIOAKTIVNE KOMPONENTE PLODOVA DRENA (Cornus mas L.) U PROVINCIJI ERZINČAN U ISTOČNOJ TURSKOJ

Turkey has a very rich flora due to diverse climatic and topographic conditions within the country. Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L.) is an important wild edible fruits and widely distributed in Turkey and well known for its fruit antioxidants and nutrients. In this study, phytochemical content in fruits of a number of Cornelian cherry genotypes in Erzincan region were determined. The biochemical analysis included organic acids, sugars, vitamin C, antioxidant and individual phenolic compounds. In the study, organic acid content was between 253.09 mg/100 g and 112.50 mg/100 g. Vitamin C content varied between 115.85 mg/100g and 43.77 mg/100 g. Likewise, the sugar content of Cornelian cherry fruits varied from 6.17 g/100 g to 4.06 g/100 g. When the antioxidant content was examined, the highest antioxidant was 980.91 μmol TE/g fresh weight (FW) base and the lowest was 490.38 μmol TE/g FW. In the genotypes examined, gallic acid was determined as the highest among the individual phenolic compounds, while the individual phenolic amounts ranged from 38.93 mg/100 g FW to 4.31 mg/100 g FW. As a result of the study, it was determined that Cornelian cherry fruits are very rich in vitamin C and other phytochemicals and as a result of this examination, 24ER04 and 24ER08 genotypes came to the fore.