Fresh from the Ornamental Garden: Hips of Selected Rose Cultivars Rich in Phytonutrients.

Morphological parameters (size, weight, color), the content of sugars, organic acids, lycopene, ß-carotene, and phenolics were determined in hips of Rosa canina (RCA), Rosa sweginzowii (RSW), Rosa rugosa (RUG), and selected ornamental Rosa cultivars Fru Dagmar Hastrup (FDH), Repandia (REP), Veilchenblau (RVB), Aloha (RAL), Bonica (BON), and Golden Gate (RGG). Although traditionally used RCA hips contained the highest amount of cyanidin-3-glucoside (83 µg/g DW) and were the reddest (h° = 17.5), they did not stand out in other analyzed parameters. RGG climber had the biggest hips (8.86 g), which also contained highest sugar levels (50.9 g/100 g DW). RAL stood out as the cultivar rich in organic acids (33.9 g/100 g DW), mainly because of high quinic acid content (17.6 g/100g DW). FDH and RSW hips were characterized by particularly high ascorbic acid levels (4325 mg/100 g DW and 4711 mg/100 g DW). Other ornamental cultivars contained low amounts of ascorbic acid compared to the analyzed species. The phenolic profile was species/cultivars-specific. The greatest diversity of phenolic compounds was detected in RUG and FDH hips (55 and 54 different tentatively identified compounds with HPLC/MS). Flavanols represented the main phenolic class in most of the investigated species/cultivars and RGG hips contained the highest amount of catechin and proanthocyandin derivatives (15855 µg/g DW). Altogether RAL hips contained the highest quantity of phenolics (44746 µg/g DW) mainly due to high levels of hydrolysable tannins compared to other species/cultivars. Although small, hips of BON and REP were most abundant regarding ß-carotene and lycopene content, respectively.

Alteration of the content of primary and secondary metabolites in strawberry fruit by Colletotrichum nymphaeae infection.

The effects of infection with Colletotrichum nymphaeae , the causative agent of strawberry black spot, were studied on two strawberry cultivars: susceptible 'Elsanta' and tolerant 'Honeoye' cultivars. Four treatments were established: (1) artificial inoculation; (2) spray application of pyraclostrobin + boscalid (Signum); (3) foliar spraying with calcium (Stopit); and (4) control (spraying with water). Primary metabolites (sugars and organic acids) and secondary metabolites (phenolic compounds) were determined in strawberry fruit with the use of HPLC-MS(n). Infected fruit accumulated large amounts of total sugars and low levels of organic acids. The sugar/acid ratio was higher in the infected and in Ca-treated strawberries. The contents of ellagic acid derivatives, flavonols, oligomeric procyanidins, flavan-3-ols, and total phenolics were highest in inoculated strawberry fruit. Results indicated that fungicide and calcium sprayings did not alter polyphenolic levels in plant tissue.