Several Fruit Characteristics of Rosa sp. Genotypes from the Northeastern Region of Romania

Abstract

There is great evidence regarding the beneficial influence of rose hips on human and animal health. In this respect, fruits of native populations of Rosa spp. collected from the northeastern part of Romania (400-1060 m altitude) were assayed for nutritional and some morphological properties, in order to select the best genotypes. The results show a great quantitative variability of analyzed genotypes, regarding dimensions and biochemical indicators as follow: ascorbic acid: 866.91 mg/100 g fw (R. rubiginosa), 615.98 mg/100 g fw (R. caesia); carotenes: 34.95 mg/100 g fw (R. subcanina), 24.64 mg/100 g fw (R. nitidula); protein content: 0.47 g/100 g fw (R. micrantha), 0.25 g/100 g fw (R. caesia); total sugars: 17.63 g/100 g fw (R. andegavensis), 11.55 g/100 g fw (R. caryophyllacea). The fruits length, width and dry weight were: 25 mm (R. canina), 12 mm (R. micrantha), 16.5 mm (R. corymbifera), 8 mm (R. micrantha) and 25% dry weight (R. rubiginosa), 38% dry weight (R. nitidula), respectively. The present study demonstrates the existence of a rich rose germplasm source in north-east area, with good biotechnological fruit quality, which recommends them as functional foods according to their chemical contents (R. rubiginosa, R. vosagiaca, R. subcanina, R. canina and R. caryophyllacea) and also as sources for natural colorants in food technology.