Fruit Quality and Contents of Some Bioactive Compounds in Selected Czech Sweet Cherry (Prunus avium L.) Cultivars under Conditions of Central Poland

Abstract

Dynamic changes have taken place in the production of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) in Poland over the last 20 years. New cultivars with both early- and late-ripening dates have appeared, and modern high-intensity cultivation techniques are being implemented. The main attribute of the fruit, in addition to its unique taste, is its health-promoting properties. In this research, which was conducted at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences in 2021, our main objectives were to evaluate seven selected Czech cherry cultivars (‘Jacinta’; ‘Horka’; ‘Tamara’; ‘Helga’; ‘Fabiola’; ‘Kasandra’; ‘Kordia’) with regard to their dessert quality and contents of biologically active compounds, and to indicate the most valuable cultivar under the conditions of central Poland. The cultivars tested differed in both the fruit quality and health-promoting properties. ‘Jacinta’, ‘Horka’, Tamara’ and ‘Fabiola’ had the largest fruits. The ‘Fabiola’ and ‘Kordia’ fruits had the highest firmness, while the ‘Jacinta’ and ‘Horka’ fruits had the highest soluble solid contents (SSCs) and titratable acidities (TAs). We found the highest SSC-to-TA ratio in the ‘Fabiola’ cultivar. ‘Jacinta’ proved to be the most valuable cultivar in terms of bioactive compounds, and it had the highest antioxidant activity (DPPH). Some of the traits were closely correlated with each other, mainly in relation to the biologically active compounds. Darker fruits contained more bioactive compounds and had a higher antioxidant activity. It was also proved that size of fruits as well as SSC and TA are also correlated with fruit color. Intensively colored fruit are larger and have higher SSC and TA. In sweet cherry fruit, the contents of polyphenols and flavonoids, as well as the high DPPH, are strongly determined by the high content of cyanidin-3-galactoside.