Flavonoid content and radical scavenging activity in fruits of Chinese dwarf cherry(Cerasus humilis) genotypes

The Chinese dwarf cherry（Cerasus humilis（Bge.） Sok.） is a small shrub with edible fruits. It is native to northern and western China. This species was included as a medicinal plant in the ‘‘Chinese Pharmacopeia’’ and has emerged as an economically important crop for fresh fruit consumption, processing into juice and wine and nutraceutical products as well. To gain a better understanding of flavonoid biosynthesis and help develop value added products and better cultivars with greater health benefits, we analyzed total flavonoid content（TFC）, composition, and radical scavenging activities in fruit extracts of 16 Chinese dwarf cherry genotypes. Fruit peel TFC ranged from 33.5 to72.8 mg/g REáFW（RE： rutin equivalent, FW： fresh weight）while fruit flesh TFC ranged from 4.3 to 16.9 mg/g REáFW.An HPLC analysis revealed that fruit extracts contained 14 flavonoids with considerable variation in their profiles across genotypes. The most abundant flavonoids in most genotypes were proanthocyanidin B1（PA-B1）, proanthocyanidin B2（PA-B2）, phloretin 20-O-glucoside（PG）, and phloretin 20,40-O-diglucoside（PDG）. Principal component analysis showed that PG, PA-B1, and PA-B2 had large,positive factor loading values in the first principal component for each genotype. Increased scavenging activity of2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl（DPPH） radicals was apparent in genotypes ‘Nongda 4’, ‘Nongda 3’, ‘Nongda 6’,‘Wenfenli’, and ’10-32’, suggesting promising applications in the production of nutraceutical products. In summary, our results will aid in breeding, fruit processing, and developing medicinal uses of the Chinese dwarf cherry.

Breeding of a New Early-ripening Cultivar of Chinese Dwarf Cherry 'Xiarihong'

＇Xiarihong＇ is a new early-ripening variety selected from seedlings of Chinese dwarf cherry （Cerasus humilis Bunge） in 2006. The fruits are oblate and have red skin; the flesh is yellow, sour and sweet. The average mass of a fruit is 6.74 g, and a fruit has a half freestone. The content of soluble solids reaches 10.9%, and total sugar and total acid content are 8.20% and 1.81% respectively, so the ratio of total sugar content to total acid content is 4.53; the edible rate is up to 94.51%. In the flesh, calcium, iron, zinc, and vitamin C content are 219.7, 4.4, 1.09, and 182 mg/kg respectively. Fruits ripen in late July in Beijing, and the development period of fruits is 96-101 d. Fruits can be kept for 3-5 d at room temperature, about 20 d in cold storage, and one year under freezing conditions. It can be cultivated in Beijing, flowers and fruits in the next year, with strong yielding ability.