2012 OCHMIAN i in Chemical Composition and Physical Characteristics of Fruits of Two Cultivars of Blue Honeystucke (Lonicera careulea L.) in Relation to their Degree of Maturity and Harvest date.PDF

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Not Bot Horti Agrobo, 2012, 40(1):155-162

Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici

Cluj-Napoca

Chemical Composition and Physical Characteristics of Fruits of Two Cultivars

of Blue Honeysuckle ( Lonicera caerulea L.) in Relation to their

Degree of Maturity and Harvest Date

Ireneusz OCHMIAN, Katarzyna SKUPIEŃ, Józef GR AJKOWSKI,

Miłosz SMOLIK, Krystyna OSTROWSKA

West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin, Słowackiego 17, 71-434 Szczecin, Poland; ireneusz.ochmian@zut.edu.pl

Abstract

he aim of study was to compare yield, fruit quality, chemical composition and fruits colour of berries of two blue honeysuckle

(Lonicera caerulea L.) cultivars of Polish bred ‘Wojtek’ and ‘Brązowa’ collected at the beginning and at the end of harvest season,

respectively. On average, ‘Wojtek’ yielded 1565 g per bush, whereas ‘Brązowa’ 1941 g. During the fruit ripening process, considerable

changes were found in the fruit colour. Fruits of both cultivars became darker and their colour changed from green and yellow to red

and blue. With the changes in fruit colour, considerable changes in irmness also occurred. Fruit ripening reduced fruit irmness and

puncture resistance. For both genotypes, the berries of late harvest were bigger and richer in soluble solids and total polyphenol, however,

they showed decreased irmness, lower acidity, and L-ascorbic acid content. Nevertheless the time of harvest, ‘Wojtek’ berries surpassed

‘Brązowa’ fruit regarding soluble solids, titratable acidity and L-ascorbic acid content (for late-crop berries of both cultivars 14.1>12.6%,

3.4>2.7 g citric acid 100 g 1 , and 76>56 mg 100 mL -1 . Further, ‘Wojtek’ berries showed higher total polyphenol content (149.30 and

183.66 mg∙100 g -1 , for early and late ripening fruit, respectively) compared to that of ‘Brązowa’ (125.51 and 175.67 mg 100 g -1 ). Among

phenolics, anthocyanins made the substantial group ranging from 94.47 mg 100 g -1 (‘Brązowa’ berries of early harvest) to 141.96 mg 100

g -1 (late ‘Wojtek’ fruit).

Keywords: chemical composition, cultivar, fruit colour, fruit size, Lonicera caerulea , phenolics

pasova et al. , 2007), Lithuania (Zhilinskayte et al. , 2005),

Canada (Lefol, 2007), USA (hompson and Chaovana-

likit, 2006), and in Poland (Ochmian et al. , 2008; Smolik

et al. , 2010). In Japan, high prices make haskap products

special for souvenirs and gits for special occasions (Lefol,

2007). he great advantage of the blue honeysuckle is early

ripening a few weeks before strawberries. he plants bear

at a very young age and the fruit are easily shaken of at

harvest time. hey may be ideally suited for mechanized

harvesting since they do not sucker and have bushes of a

similar size to other fruits that are harvested by machines.

he plants appear to have few insect pests and diseases,

making it a worthwhile crop to be considered for organic

production (Bors, 2008b). he plants are frost-resistant

and the bushes are not damaged even when the tempera-

ture decreases beneath -40°C, whereas the expanded low-

ers are not injured at -8°C. he fruits are elongated with an

elliptic or cylindrical shape that is covered with an abrad-

ing wax bloom. hey have a lavour commonly described

as a combination of blueberries and raspberries. he natu-

ral accessions and varieties provide a large range of taste,

tartness, sweetness, and acidity (Lefol, 2007). Honeysuck-

le berries are used in a wide range of products including

juice, wine, pastries, jams, dairy products and are eaten

fresh. he fruits are rich in phenolics, anthocyanins and

Introduction

According to diferent references, the genus Lonicera

( Caprifoliaceae ) comprises from 150 (Kumar et al., 2005)

to more than 200 species (Naugžemys et al., 2007), which

are native to Siberia, North Eastern Asia, and Japan. Some

species in this genus are used as ornamental and edible

plants. Berries have been long harvested from wild plants

in regions of Russia, China, and Japan (hompson and

Chaovanalikit, 2006). However, in the scientiic literature,

the taxonomic classiication of the species bearing edible

fruits, especially of Lonicera caerulea , is not unequivocal

(Chaovanalikit et al., 2004; Plekhanova, 2000). Lonic-

era caerulea , the blue honeysuckle, is also dubbed hon-

eyberry, sweet berry honeysuckle, edible honeysuckle,

haskap, haskup, hasukappu or haskappu. In the language

of the Ainu people, the Aboriginal people of Hokkaidu

Island, haskap means ‘lots of little things on the top of the

branches’ (Bors, 2008a; Lefol, 2007). Blue honeysuckle

plants have been used for ages in Asia for their medicinal

properties. During the past several decades, research in

Russia and Japan has resulted in cultivars being selected

for commercial production (hompson and Chaovana-

likit, 2006,). Lately, breeding works have been also carried

out in the Czech Republic (Řezniček, 2007), Belarus (Ru-

Ochmian I. et al. / Not Bot Horti Agrobo, 2012, 40(1):155-162

156

vitamin C (Chaovanalikit et al. , 2004; Pigul, 2005; Rop et

al. , 2011). Consumption of high amounts of antioxidant

substances may have a positive impact on human health,

particularly the prevention of cancer and inlammatory

diseases (Gazdík et al. , 2008). Haskap berries are believed

to have a variety of therapeutic efects as reducing blood

pressure, decreasing the risk of heart attack, preventing os-

teoporosis and anaemia, preventing children hyperactiv-

ity, providing curative efects for malaria and gastrointesti-

nal disorders, slowing the aging process (Lefol, 2007). he

chemical composition of fruits determining their sensory

attributes and pro-health properties is afected by environ-

mental factors, harvest date, and genotype (Hoppula and

Karhu, 2006; Poll and Petersen, 2003; Reyes-Carmona et

al. , 2005). he purpose of this study was to evaluate the

efect of harvest date on the yield, fruit size and colour

and irmness, as well as soluble solids, titratable acidity,

L-ascorbic acid, and phenol content for two honeysuckle

cultivars of Polish bred, ‘Wojtek’ and ‘Brązowa’.

under conventional agronomic treatments adequate to

low soil requirements of the species. he water irrigation

was applied on ‘as needed’ basis during each vegetative

season. Because Lonicera plants are resistant to pathogen

diseases ‘by nature’ no chemical protection was applied.

he ripe berries were collected consecutively. he fruit

mass, irmness, colour, soluble solids, titratable acidity and

L-ascorbic acid content were measured on fresh berries

soon ater each harvest. Phenolics composition was evalu-

ated for berries collected at the beginning and the end of

cropping season and the analyses were performed on fruits

packed in polyethylene bags and stored at -32°C.

he fruit weight was measured with RADWAG WPX

4500 electronic scales (0.01 g accuracy) and fruit irmness

was measured with a FirmTech 2 apparatus (BioWorks,

USA). he irmness and p uncture resistance of the skin

of 100 randomly selected berries from each replicate was

expressed as a gram-force causing fruit surface to bend 1

mm. Puncture were made using a stamp with a diameter

of 3 mm.

Titratable acidity was determined by titration of a wa-

ter extract of fruit juice with 0.1 N NaOH to an end point

of pH 8.1 (measured with an Orion 720 A pH meter; Ori-

on Research Incorporated, USA). Soluble solids content

was determined with an Abbé refractometer. L-ascorbic

acid and nitrates content was measured with a RQlex 10

relectometer (Merck) and expressed as mg per 100 mL

fruit juice.

Material and methods

he experiment was undertaken in the Experimental

Station at Rajkowo (north-west Poland)-West Pomera-

nian University of Technology in Szczecin, in 2009-2010

years. he two-years old blue honeysuckle bushes were

planted on 2005 in a brown podsolic soil rich in the nutri-

ents, thus only nitrogen fertilisation was performed at the

total dose of 40 kg N per ha. he plants were cultivated

Fig. 1. Example of diagram of HPLC phenolics proile of blue honeysuckle fruit

1- neochlorogenic acid; 2- chlorogenic acid; 3- 3,5-dicafeoylquinic acid; 4- unidentiied

lavonol (r. t. 26 min); 5- quercetin-3-rut; 6- quercetin-3-glu; 7- unidentiied lavonol (r. t.

32 min); 8- cyanidin 3-5-diglu; 9- cyanidin-3-glu; 10 cyanidin-3-rut; 11- peon-3-glu; 12-

luteolin-7-O-α-glu

Ochmian I. et al. / Not Bot Horti Agrobo, 2012, 40(1):155-162

157

he HPLC analyses of polyphenols were carried out

with HPLC apparatus consisting of a Merck-Hitachi

L-7455 diode array detector (DAD) and quaternary pump

L-119 7100 equipped with D-7000 HSM Multisolvent

Delivery System (Merck-Hitachi, Tokyo, Japan). he runs

were monitored for phenolic acids at 320 nm, lavonols

and luteolin glucoside at 360 nm, and anthocyanin glyco-

sides at 520 nm (Fig. 1). Retention times and spectra were

compared to that of pure standards and total polyphenols

content was expressed as mg per 100 g fruit tissue. Stan-

dards of anthocyanidin glycosides were obtained from

Polyphenols Laboratories (Norway), while, for phenolic

acids, lavonols and luteolin glucoside from Extrasynthese

(France).

Fruit colour was measured in a transmitted mode

through Konica Minolta CM-700d spectrophotometer.

Measurements were conducted in CIE L * a * b * system (Fig.

2), through a 10° observer type and D65 illuminant.

Chemical analyses were carried out in three replicates.

he randomized block experimental design was used with

three replicates (four bushes per a plot). he results ob-

tained were subjected to statistical analysis using Statis-

tica 9 (Statsot, Poland). he results were evaluated by the

Duncan test. he diferences between the means at p< 0.05

were considered signiicant.

Results and discussion

In each year of the experiment, fruits of both cultivars

were harvested six or seven times (Fig. 3). ‘Wojtek’ berries

started to ripen earlier than ‘Brązowa’ (on May 20) and the

last harvest was carried out on June 10. ‘Brązowa’ berries

were collected from June 1 to June 29 when air tempera-

tures were higher (Tab. 1).

he yield of ‘Wojtek’ ranged from 97 g per bush (begin-

ning of harvest) to 522 g per bush (the middle of harvest)

and the total yield amounted 1565 g per bush on average.

Fig. 2. CIE L*a*b* chromaticity diagram

L* (100 white, 0 black); a* (-100 green, +100 red); b* (-100 blue , +100 yellow)

Fig. 3. Yield and one-fruit weight of blue honeysuckle at diferent harvest times (average for

2009-2010)

Ochmian I. et al. / Not Bot Horti Agrobo, 2012, 40(1):155-162

158

‘Brązowa’ berries, 33% increases in diameter and length

were found. he early ripening berries developed when air

temperatures were lower (Tab. 1 and 2). Moreover, higher

number of fruits per bush at the beginning of fruiting re-

sulted in nutrient competition that could have contributed

to the lowering of weight and size of early harvested hon-

eysuckle berries. However, these data are contradictory

to the indings of Ochmian et al. (2007) for strawberries

and for highbush blueberries of Ścibisz et al. (2003) that

berry size decreases through the harvest period. A reduc-

tion in irrigation might result in smaller fruits at harvest in

open-ield trials of strawberries (Kirnak et al ., 2003) and

apricot trees (Torrecillas et al ., 2008). However, in this

experiment, honeysuckle bushes were supplied with drip

irrigation until the end of cropping that was suitable for

fruit development.

he irmness of honeysuckle berries was inluenced

by the harvest date (Tab. 2 and 3). For both cultivars, the

fruit of early harvest showed higher irmness than the ones

collected late. Fruit size enlargement observed for late-

crop ‘Wojtek’ and ‘Brązowa’ berries and it was concurrent

with 14% decline in their irmness as compared to berries

collected 25-30 days earlier. he decrease in fruit irm-

ness during ripening is a common occurrence. According

to Skupień et al. (2009), the early harvested fruit of other

cultivars were harder if compared to the ones collected

late. Nunes et al. (1995) found that irmness of strawber-

ries cooled immediately ater harvest was greater than

those cooled ater 6 hours, but the diferences in irmness

between harvests (beginning of harvest period and one

week later, respectively) were not signiicant.

he damage of fruit skin is detrimental because it af-

fects negatively the appearance that is especially important

for fruits produced for fresh market purpose. However, no

signiicant diferences in the force needed to damage the

fruits were found. hey are quite low for the blue-berried

honeysuckle, which means that fruits are susceptible to

damage. No reports on this subject are available in the lit-

erature; however, results of the author’s own experiments

in this paper show that fruits of this species are relatively

susceptible to puncture injury. Blackcurrant skin was dam-

aged under the pressure of over 120 G mm -1 , while some

cultivars of northern highbush blueberry were damaged

only at 140 G mm -1 (in press).

he physical parameters of fruits were signiicantly

afected by the degree of fruit ripening (Tab. 3). Fruits

from both cultivars under analysis darkened, which is con-

irmed by the change of the L * parameter, which ranged

from 59.99 to 56.12 in unripe fruits. he lowest value

(21.08) was found in ‘Wojtek’ cultivar fruits just before

harvest. he a * parameter in unripe fruits had negative

values (-23.07; -21.43), which is a sign of the green col-

or. Fruits became red in the ripening process, and the a *

parameter assumed a positive value. he greatest changes

were observed for the b * parameter. Its values ranged from

39.87 (‘Brązowa’) to 42.83 (‘Wojtek’), which reveals the

Tab. 1. he mean air temperatures of April and June in 2009

and 2010

Temperature ( ° C)

Month

10 days

7.2

11.8

18.9

7.9

12.2

15.7

Year

2009

Year

2010

11.5

13.8

19.4

9.2

13.4

18.7

11.3

18.8

16.6

10.5

15.3

18.2

For ‘Brązowa’ the lowest yield per bush was 122 g (begin-

ning of cropping ), while the highest 512 g (the last but

one harvest) totaling for 1941 g per bush (Fig. 3).

Bors (2008b) reported that the yield for 3- and 4-year-

old honeysuckle seedlings was in the range of 0.5-0.75 kg

per bush. Older plants can yield 1-5 kg per bush (Lefol,

2007; Ochmian and Grajkowski, 2007). he mass and size

of berries play an important role in the evaluation of their

quality and merits for customer attractiveness. One berry

weight of some cultivars grown in Russia was reported as

0.5 g, whereas Japanese cultivars can achieve 2.4 g (Arus

and Kask, 2007). One-fruit weight of the Russian geno-

type honeysuckle, grown in Oregon (USA), is varied from

1 to 2 g (Hummer, 2006). he berries of diferent cultivars

difered in their weight and dimensions in this research.

On average, one-fruit weight of ‘Brązowa’ berries was

higher (1.15-1.76 g ) than ‘Wojtek’ (0.69-1.17 g ). How-

ever, for both cultivars, a common trend was observed that

berries of late harvests had higher one-fruit mass (Fig. 3)

and bigger size (Tab. 2).

Late-cropped ‘Wojtek’ berries showed 41% increase

in diameter and 26% increase in fruit length compared

to fruit collected at the beginning of season, whereas, for

Tab. 2. Fruit size, irmness and puncture resistance of the skin

of two blue honeysuckle cultivars

Cultivar

‘Wojtek’

Characteristics

‘Brązowa’

Mean

Harvest

beginning

Fruit

diameter

[mm]

8.7±0.9 a/A a

11.4±1 a/B

10.0 a

End

of the harvest

12.3±0.7 b/A

15.2±0.8 b/B

13.7 b

Harvest

beginning

Fruit

length

[mm]

18.7±0.8 a/B

18.4± 0.7 a/A

18.5 a

End

of the harvest

23.7± 1.1 b/A

24.5± 0.9 b/A

24.1 b

Harvest

beginning

172±29 b/A

201±41 a/B

186 B

Firmness

[G∙mm -1 ]

End

of the harvest

148±15 a/A

174±17 a/B

161 A

Harvest

beginning

Puncture

(cracking)

the skin

[G∙mm -1 ]

78±15 a/A

94±18 a/B

86 A

End

of the harvest

62±12 a/A

75±11 a/A

68 A

a Diferent letters in the same row indicate signiicant diferences at p< 0.05.

Lower case refer to harvest date (for particular cultivar), whereas, capital letters

refer to comparisons of two genotypes

Ochmian I. et al. / Not Bot Horti Agrobo, 2012, 40(1):155-162

159

ries, whereas Kamzolova et al. (2006) reported 1.79-3.24

g citric acid 100 g -1 . For both genotypes evaluated in this

study, berries of late harvest showed a lower acidity com-

pared to the ones collected at an early stage. Also, Poll and

Petersen (2003) observed a decrease of acidity for cherries

picked at late season during harvest. he changes in SS and

TA throughout cropping of both cultivars were relected

in an increase of SS:TA ratio for berries ripening late. he

SS:TA of early harvested berries of ‘Wojtek’ was 2.3:1 and

for ones harvested late, it was 4.1:1. he SS:TA for ber-

ries of ‘Brązowa’ was changed from 2.8:1 to 4.6:1 for late

harvested fruits. hus, late-collected honeysuckle berries

of both cultivars had better sensory attributes. According

to the results obtained, blue honeysuckle berries can be

considered as a rich source of L-ascorbic acid (Tab. 4). he

divergence observed between berries harvested early of

‘Wojtek’ and ‘Brązowa’ fruits harvested late ranged from

113 to 56 mg 100 mL -1 , respectively. Late-crop berries of

both cultivars showed a signiicant decrease of L-ascorbic

acid content, changed from 27% for ‘Brązowa’ and 33%

presence of compounds that make the colour yellow. he

values of the b * parameter were negative in unripe fruits

and the fruits showed blue and red colours (Tab. 3).

Soluble solids (SS) were found between 9.6-12.6%

in this study and are in accordance with the indings of

Kamzolova et al. (2006) for honeysuckle cultivars grown

in Belarus. Nevertheless, at the time of harvest date,

‘Wojtek’ berries showed a higher amount of soluble solids

than ‘Brązowa’ berries (Tab. 4). Additionally, it was found

for both cultivars that berries collected early that ripen

at lower temperatures have lower SS content than fruits

of fruits harvested late (by 31-37%). Similarly, Poll and

Petersen (2003) observed low values of SS for sour cher-

ries in the cold and rainy seasons. In general, honeysuckle

berries are rich in organic acids. High amounts of acids

impart a speciic taste for blue honeysuckle berries resem-

bling, for some people, bilberries with a distinct lavour

of acidity. Total acid content (TA) varied from 2.7 to 4.4

g citric acid 100 g -1 in this research (Tab. 4). Skupień et

al. (2007) determined 2.98 g citric acid for ‘Zielona’ ber-

Tab. 3. Color fruit, irmness and puncture resistance of the skin of two blue honeysuckle cultivars in dependence on harvest time

Characteristics of fruits

Cultivar

Unripe fruits/green

Beginning of fruit ripening

Ripe fruits

CIE L*a*b* chromaticity

59.88

-23.07

42.83

41.15

2.67

19.77

21.08

1.43

-25.40

Firmness

[G∙mm -1 ]

423±34 c b

278±52 b

161±25 a

‘Wojtek’

Puncture (cracking) the skin

[G∙mm -1 ]

335±18 c

142±36 b

75±21 a

CIE L*a*b* chromaticity

56.12

-21.43

39.87

39.18

9.94

17.35

25.73

4.27

-22.49

Firmness

[G∙mm -1 ]

449±40 c

305±48 b

184±37 a

‘Brązowa’

Puncture (cracking) the skin

[G∙mm -1 ]

311±23 c

176±51 b

92±29 a

Sample color

b Diferent letters in the same row indicate signiicant diferences at p< 0.05

Tab. 4. he chemical composition in honeysuckle berries in dependence on harvest time fruit quality of two blue honeysuckle

cultivars

Cultivar

Characteristics

‘Wojtek’

‘Brązowa’

Mean

Harvest beginning

10.3±0.3 a/B c

9.6±0.2 a/A

9.9 A

Soluble solids

[%]

End of the harvest

14.1±0.3 b/B

12.6±0.2 b/A

13.3 B

Harvest beginning

4.4±0.3 b/B

3.4±0.2 a/A

3.9 B

Titratable acidity

[g citric acid∙100g -1 ]

End of the harvest

3.4±0.3 b/A

2.7±0.3 a/A

3.0 A

L-ascorbic acid

[mg∙100 mL -1 ]

Harvest beginning

113±10 b/B

77±9 a/A

95 B

End of the harvest

76±6 b/A

56±6 a/A

66 A

Harvest beginning 12.3±2.8 b/B 8.5±1.6 a/B 10.4 B

End of the harvest 7.2±2.1 a/A 5.6±1.4 a/A 6.4 A

c Diferent letters in the same row indicate signiicant diferences at p< 0.05. Lower case refer to harvest date (for particular cultivar), whereas, capital letters refer to

comparisons of two genotypes

Nitrates

[mg∙100 mL -1 ]

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