Morphological, biochemical and health promoting properties in seed propagated quince fruits found in coruh valley in Türkiye

Pome fruits including apples and pears widely recognized species and shows rich morphological and biochemical properties. However, the studies on the other pome fruits including quince are scarce in literature. Quince is one of the most diverse specie in the pome fruits and, in particular, its fruits are rich in bioactive compounds. Türkiye, China and Uzbekistan are leading country for world quince production. Due to self-pollination characteristics, it is possible to obtain high quality quince genotypes from seeds. In this study, some important fruit properties of ten seed propagated quince genotypes naturally found in Aras valley, located in the eastern Anatolia region of Türkiye were investigated. The genotypes differed each other for most of the morphological, biochemical and human health promoting properties. Fruit weight were in range of 205-389 g among genotypes. Seven genotypes were found pear-shaped (pyriformis) and the rest of the genotypes were apple-shaped (maliformis). Fruit firmness ranged from 5.12 kg/cm2 to 8.30 kg/cm2, respectively. Fruit skin Chroma and Hue values were found between 47.34-65.67 and 71.98-89.17, respectively. SSC (Soluble Solid Content), Vitamin C and total phenolic content of the genotypes ranged from 9.7-13.4%, 4.2-11.2 mg per 100 g FW (fresh weight), 290–432 mg gallic acid equivalent per 100 g FW, respectively. This work constitutes an important step in the conservation of quince genetic resources in the eastern Anatolia.