JOURNAL OF APPLIED BOTANY AND FOOD QUALITY, cilt.85, sa.1, ss.86-90, 2012 (SCI-Expanded)
Eleven medlar (Mespilus germanica L.) genotypes sampled from Turkey were analyzed for their fruit weight, fruit dimensions, fruit firmness, ostiole diameter, shape index, skin color, moisture (%), ash (%), reducing sugar (%), crude protein (%), pH, soluble solid content (%), vitamin C (mg/100 g), minerals (P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, Mn), total phenolic.content and total antioxidant capacity. A wide variation among genotypes on most of the searched parameters was evident. Fruit weight varied from 11.21 g to 33.24 g indicating high variability among genotypes. Determination of antioxidant activities by beta-carotene - linoleic acid and 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assays resulted in average 80.8%, and 46.6 mu g/ml FW DPPH, respectively. The total phenolic contents of eleven medlar genotypes varied from 114 to 293 mg gallic acid equivalent in 100 g fresh weight basis. The medlar fruits were found to be rich in terms of potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and iron.