https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304423818305570

Mojtaba Fathi,Hassanali Naghdi Badi, Alireza Ghanbari, Rasool Asghari-akaria, Shahram Sedaghathoor

Abstract 

Caucasian whortleberry (Vaccinium arctostaphylos L.), locally named Qare-Qat, is a shrub native to humidCaucasus area including northwest of Iran. It is a medicinal plant which has been intensively utilized in Iranianfolk medicine as an antihypertensive and antidiabetic agent for many years. In order to determine the pomo-logical and phytochemical properties of various caucasian whortleberry populations, aerial parts samples werecollected from 11 locations in native regions. Current study indicated significant differences in pomological andphytochemical characteristics of Caucasian whortleberry (V. arctostaphylos L.) populations collected from 11locations in 3 different province. Our results showed that the highest berry and flesh weight, number of seeds perberry, berry length and width, number of cluster per inflorescence and flowering stem length were observedfrom plants collected from Saghezchi-A population in Ardabil province, while the lowest values were obtainedfrom Zendaneh population in Gilan province. In addition, the highest content of anthocyanin, total phenolics andantioxidant in both fruits and leaves of V. arctostaphylos L. were mainly recorded from Saghezchi-A populationfollowed by Khanghah population. According to studied traits, V. arctostaphylos L. populations were divided intothree different groups. Saghezchi-A, Khanghah and Saghezchi-A populations were placed in a same group withmainly the best pomological and phytochemical properties. These locations were characterized by high solarradiation. Therefore, they can be exploited for selection of suitable genotypes for organizing the berry breedingprograms and taking advantage of this plant in garden establishment and fruit production investigation.

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