Full Length Research Paper

Selected cultivars of cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L.) as a new food source for human nutrition

Otakar Rop¹*, Jiri Mlcek¹, Daniela Kramarova² and Tunde Jurikova³

¹Department of Food Technology and Microbiology, Faculty of Technology, Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Namesti T. G. Masaryka 275, 762 72 Zlin, Czech Republic.

²Department of Food Biochemistry and Analysis, Faculty of Technology, Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Namesti T. G. Masaryka 275, 762 72 Zlin, Czech Republic.

³Department of Natural and Informatics Sciences, Faculty of Central European Studies, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Drazovska 4, 949 74 Nitra, Slovak Republic.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: rop@ft.utb.cz. Tel: +420 576 031 129. Fax: +420 577 210 172.

Abbreviations: ABTS, 2,2´-Azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonate); DPPH, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl; FM, fresh mass.

Accepted 29 January, 2010

   Abstract

The aim of this work was to determine antioxidant activity in 12 cultivars of cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L.). Two assays based on ion reduction of ABTS (2,2´-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonate) and DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radicals were used for antioxidant activity. Total phenolic content of the fruit was analysed by Folin-Ciocelteau colorimetric method and ascorbic acid content was analysed using column chromatography - electrochemical detector (Coulochem III). The highest amounts of total phenolic content were found in cultivars ´Vydubeckij´ and ´Titus´ as 7.96 and 8.11 g gallic acid kg^-1 of fresh mass (FM). High correlation between polyphenols and antioxidant activity in fruits of the cultivars was observed (r² = 0.970 for DPPH test and r² = 0.978 for ABTS test). The highest total content of ascorbic acid was determined in cultivar ´Olomoucky´, with the value of 3.11 g kg^-1 FM. This study attempts to contribute to the knowledge of human nutritional properties of these cornelian cherry cultivars and may be useful for the evaluation of dietary information and further propagation of cultivation and utilization of this fruit in the world.

Key words: Cornelian cherry, phenolics, antioxidant activity, ascorbic acid.