Phenotypic and biochemical parameters of four sweet cherry (Prunus Avium L.) cultivars grown in agro-ecological conditions of middle Atlas of Morocco

Theobjective of thisstudyis to investigate the phenotypic and biochemicalparameters of selectedsweet cherry (Prunus avium) from middle region of Morocco. Themain biochemical composition, contentsof total polyphenols, total flavonoids, total anthocyanins and antioxidant activity, were measured in the fruits of four sweet cherry cultivars (ʻBurlat’, ʻVan’, ʻNapoleon’andʻCerisette’) grown in two locations (“Laanoceur”and “Toufselt”) in the MiddleAtlas. The free radical scavenging activity was evaluated spectrophotometrically using 1,1‒diphenyl‒2‒picrylhydrazine (DPPH)and ABTS assay.The fruit weight, and pulppercentagewerestudied and found to range between 237–329 g, 38.14–42.22%, 39.21–44.36g, and 52.27–57.48%, respectively.The total phenolic and total anthocyanin content rangedfrom305.99 and 306.67 mg EqGal/100g D.W, total flavonoid contents were within the range of 481.73-517.67 mgeqRE/100g D.W, and total anthocyanin contents were between 1.09 and 2.89 mg Eqcyanidin 3-glucoside/100g D.W. Antioxidant activity ranged from 17.18 to 18.11 mg EqTrolox/100g D.W for DPPH assayand from 27.97 to 29.60 mg EqTrolox/100f D.W for ABTS method.The highest values of total anthocyanin content and antioxidant activity (DPPH) were recorded in ʻBurlat’. The highest value of total flavonoid content was found in ʻCerisette’. Cherries from “Laanoceur”and “Toufselt” locations are characterized by similar biochemical composition and antioxidant activity, except for total anthocyanin content that shows slightly elevated values in “Laanoceur”. The close correlation between total phenolic contents and antioxidant activities (r2=0.73) show that antioxidant activity of cherry fruit depends on total polyphenols.