Wild Edible Small Fruits in Turkey and their Fruit Characteristics

Abstract Wild fruits are essential genetic resources for fruit breeding and have either been domesticated or used to introgress disease resistance and tolerance to abiotic and biotic stress. Numerous studies have previously described the health benefits of wild berry fruits and reported their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anticancer activity. Turkey has a rich plant biodiversity thanks to its geographic location and encirclement by three seas, leading to a wide variety of climates. The great ecological diversity of the wild berry species in Turkey is a significant bio-gene pool that is vital to human life and can serve as a source of agricultural development in the future. This review aims to introduce some of the wild edible berry species naturally occurring in Turkey such as Morus spp., Hippophae rhamnoides L., Viburnum opulus L., Rubus idaeus L., Rubus fruticosus L., Sambucus nigra L., Vaccinium spp., Arbutus unedo L., Ribes spp., and Fragaria vesca L., and describe their distribution, uses, and fruit characteristics. Conservation of these wild fruit genetic resources is necessary for use in breeding for novel traits.