Antioxidant Capacity of Several Romanian Forest Fruits (Rosa canina L., Prunus spinosa L., Vaccium vitis-idaea L. and Cornus mas L.)

The comparison of the antioxidant activity of the studied forest fruits emphasized a hierarchy of the antioxidant capacity in rosehip, blackthorn, lingonberry and cornelian cherry. The purpose of the study was to investigate the antioxidant capacity and nutritional value of rosehip, blackthorn, lingonberry and cornelian cherry. In the current study, the FT-IR spectroscopy technique was applied to detect molecular components in forest fruits samples. Antioxidant capacity was evaluated with photochemical assay as well as humidity, protein, fibre, lipid and carbohydrate content. The FT-IR results revealed the presence of different bio-active compounds in berries such as flavonoids, tannins, sugars, acids, proanthocyanidins, carotenoids, citric metabolites and others. The highest antioxidant capacity was observed in rosehip 105.67±1.38 and blackthorn 49.89±1.92 (μg/mg equivalent ascorbic acid). Regarding nutritional parameters, rosehip showed the most increased content of protein displaying average values of 1.60, carbohydrates 38.20 and fibre 24.10 (g/100 g/sample). These results can provide useful information providing a research interest for the identification of new molecular compounds from Romanian flora samples

Highly informative SSR genotyping reveals large genetic diversity and limited differentiation in European larch (Larix decidua) populations from Romania

[EN] European larch (Larix decidua) is naturally distributed at high elevations in Central Europe. Romanian populations of L. decidua are scattered in different areas of the country. In this study, we used 12 highly informative genomic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers for genotyping seven populations from different areas of Romania. The SSR markers were highly variable, with up to 11 alleles per SSR locus and an average polymorphic information content of 0.713. High values of observed (Ho = 0.542) and expected (He = 0.738) heterozygosities were observed. Cluster analysis of populations did not group them according to geographical distance, but some clusters contained populations from a similar altitudinal range. The partition of genetic variation revealed that two-thirds of the genetic variation was found within individuals (due to high Ho levels), while only one-sixth of the total genetic variation corresponded to variation among populations. A population structure analysis identified four genetic clusters, and in most cases individuals from a single population were assigned to several genetic clusters. Multivariate principal coordinates analysis confirmed the population structure analysis. SSR markers are a powerful tool for evaluating diversity, relationships, and the genetic structure of Romanian L. decidua populations, which have high levels of diversity and low genetic structurationPietro Gramazio is grateful to Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for a predoctoral contract (Programa FPI de la UPV-Subprograma 1/2013 call). Ioana M Plesa is grateful to the Doctoral School of the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca and ICHAT - Institute of Advanced Horticulture Research of Transylvania, and Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, for their support. Mariola Plazas is grateful to Spanish Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad for a post doctoral grant within the Juan de la Cierva programme (FCJI-2015-24835).Gramazio, P.; Plesa, IM.; Truta, AM.; Sestras, AF.; Vilanova Navarro, S.; Plazas Ávila, MDLO.; Vicente, O.... (2018). Highly informative SSR genotyping reveals large genetic diversity and limited differentiation in European larch (Larix decidua) populations from Romania. Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry. 42(3):165-175. https://doi.org/10.3906/tar-1801-41S16517542

FT-IR and HPLC analysis of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) bark compounds from different geographical provenances

Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) could be applied to study the provenance of wood, specifically the differentiation of wood resources, as well as the identification of chemical compounds that are connected to the changes that occur in wood as a result of drying treatments. To test this hypothesis, the bark of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) from trees belonging to seven different geographical provenances was studied, using samples dried at three different temperatures (60, 80, and 100 °C). FT-IR spectroscopy revealed different band assignments in the mid-infrared region depending on fir provenances, whereas the vibrational bands of the biomass functional groups tended to shift to lower wavenumbers. Significant differences were identified between the chemical compounds in the bark depending on the provenances. The largest proportion of the total phenolics was represented by the epicatechin gallate, epicatechin, catechin, and procyanidin dimer B1. Exploratory data analysis was performed using principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical clustering, and Pearson correlations. This allowed a comparative evaluation of the samples and interpret the findings according to the geographical provenances, respectively ecological conditions in the areas of origin, but also the influence of the drying temperatures of the samples on chemical compounds. The precipitation in the areas of origin decreased total phenolics in silver fir bark samples, and total phenolics differed not only due to the geographic provenance, but also due to drying temperature