Quality variation of fruits of species of the genus Lycium in Ukraine: A comparative morphological analysis

  • M. Y. Zhurba M. M. Gryshko National Botanical Garden of Ukraine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
  • S. V. Klymenko M. M. Gryshko National Botanical Garden of Ukraine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
  • I. Szot University of Life Sciences in Lublin
Keywords: goji berry; cultivars; varieties; fruits; seeds; morphometric parameters; cluster hierarchical analysis.

Abstract

Goji berries (Lycium L.) have been an important element of traditional Chinese medicine for centuries due to their health-promoting properties and chemical composition, and they deserve the term “superfruit”. The objective of this study was to evaluate the morphological parameters of Lycium (L. barbarum L., L. chinense Mill. and L. truncatum Y. C. Wang) fruits for 21 cultivars and varieties from the collections in the M. M. Gryshko National Botanical Garden of NAS of Ukraine (Kyiv). Cultivars and varieties differed by weight, shape, and size of fruits. Their morphometric parameters were the following: fruit weight from 0.44 (L. truncatum cv. Princess Tao) to 1.08 (L. chinense cv. Tybet) g, fruit length from 10.41 (L. chinense cv. Delikat) to 22.84 (L. truncatum cv. Super Sweet) mm, fruit diameter from 7.16 (L. truncatum cv. Princess Tao) to 13.48 (L. chinense cv. Delikat) mm, number of seeds in fruit from 1.0 to 49.0. The shape indexes of fruits were found ranging from 0.78 (L. chinense cv. Delikat) to 2.56 (L. truncatum cv. New Big). The analysis of coefficient of variation showed the difference of variability in morphometric characteristics between Lycium spp. cultivars and varieties. The most variable features are fruit weight (11.4–37.1%) and number of seeds in fruits (9.7–60.8%), which are important parameters for selection that indicates about potential success of selection. Using the cluster analysis with the Bray-Curtis similarity index allowed us to establish the relationships among the fruits Lycium spp. germplasm and arrange the cultivars and varieties into three relatively main clusters. Plants of the genus Lycium, due to the growing importance as functional food, require systematic research work. In cases of food use, large fruit size is important. In the results of our research on L. barbarum, L. chinense and L. truncatum, in terms of fruit sizes the following cultivars and varieties stand out : LB02, LC Amber Sweet and LT Super Sweet. The collected varieties can be the basis for obtaining new cultivars distinguished by the size of crops and their quality.

References

Amagase, H., & Farnsworth, N. R. (2011). A review of botanical characteristics, phytochemistry, clinical relevance in efficacy and safety of Lycium barbarum fruit (Goji). Food Research International, 44(7), 1702–1717.

Azim, R., Ilyas, M., Awan, S. I., Tariq, H., & Iqbal, N. (2018). Assesment of morphological and biochemical diversity of berries Lycium in the three districts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. International Journal of Bioscences, 12(6), 37–47.

Barboza, G. E., Hunziker, A. T., Bernardello, G., Cocucci, A. A., Carrizo Garcia, C., Fuentes, V., Dillon, M. O., Bittrich, V., Cosa, M. T., Subils, R., Romanutti, A., Arroyo, S., & Anton, A. (2016). Solanaceae. In: Kadereit, J. W., & Bittrich, V. (Eds.). The families and genera of vascular plants. Vol. 14. Springer, New Delhi. Pp. 295–357.

Chang, R. C.-C., & So, K.-F. (2015). Lycium barbarum and human health. Springer, Netherlands.

Chen, J., Chao, C. T., & Wei, X. (2018). Gojiberry breeding: Current status and future prospects. In: Breeding and health benefits of fruit and nut crops. InTech, Delhi. Pp. 3–20.

Cumaoglu, A., Bekci, H., Ozturk, E., Yerer, M. B., Baldemir, A., & Bishayee, A. (2018). Goji berry fruit extracts suppress proliferation of triple-negative breast cancer cells by inhibiting EGFR-Mediated ERK/MAPK and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways. Natural Product Communications, 13(6), 701–706.

Dai, G., Cao, Y., Lei, Z., Jiao, E., Qin, K., & Zhou, X. (2015). A new wolfberry cultivar‘Ningqi 5’. Acta Horticulturae Sinica, 39(10), 2099–2100.

Grygorieva, O., Klymenko, S., Ilinska, A., & Brindza, J. (2018a). Variation of fruits morphometric parameters of Elaeagnus multiflora Thunb. germplasm collection. Potravinarstvo Slovak Journal of Food Sciences, 12(1), 527–532.

Grygorieva, O., Klymenko, S., Vinogradova, Y., Motyleva, S., Gurnenko, I., Piórecki, N., & Brindza, J. (2018). Study of morphological characteristics of pollen grains of Aronia mitschurinii A. K. Skvortsov & Maitul. Agrobiodiversity for Improving Nutrition, Health and Life Quality, 2, 49–56.

Grygorieva, O., Klymenko, S., Vinogradova, Y., Vergun, O., & Brindza, J. (2018b). Variation in morphometric traits of fruits of Mespilus germanica L. Potravinarstvo Slovak Journal of Food Sciences, 12(1), 782–788.

Grygorieva, O., Vergun, O., Klymenko, S., Zhurba, M., Horčinová Sedláčková, V., Ivanišová, E., & Brindza, J. (2020). Estimation of phenolic compounds content and antioxidant activity of leaves extracts of some selected non-traditional plants. Potravinarstvo Slovak Journal of Food Sciences, 14, 501–509.

Horčinová Sedláčková, V., Grygorieva, O., Vergun, O. M., Vinogradova, J. K., & Brindza, J. (2019). Comparison of selected characteristics of cultivars and wild-growing genotypes of Sambucus nigra in Slovakia. Biosystems Diversity, 27, 56–61.

Ivanišová, E., Grygorieva, O., Abrahamová, V., Schubertova, Z., Terentjeva, M., & Brindza, J. (2017). Characterization of morphological parameters and biological activity of jujube fruit (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.). Journal of Berry Research, 7, 249–260.

Jaćimović, V., Božović, D., Ercisli, S., Ognjanov, V., & Bosančić, B. (2015). Some Fruit characteristics of selected cornelian cherries (Cornus mas L.) from Montenegro. Erwerbs-Obstbau, 57, 119–124.

Kazbekovna, S. F., Arsenovna, S. M., & Nikolaevich, D. O. (2018). Comparative micromorphological investigations of red goji berries (Lycium barbarum L.) and black godji berries (Lycium ruthenicum Murr.). Pharmacognosy Journal, 10(5), 911–915.

Lee, H. W., Kim, Y. H., Kim, Y. H., Lee, G. H., & Lee, M. Y. (2014). Discrimination of Lycium chinense and Lycium barbarum by taste pattern and betaine analysis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, 7(8), 2053–2059.

Lei, J., Liu, D., & Guo, J. (2013). Quality differences of Lycium barbarum L. dried fruit in different producing areas. Xiandai Shipin Keji, 29, 494–497.

Levin, R. A., Bernardello, G., Whiting, C., & Miller, J. S. (2011). A new generic circumscription in tribe Lycieae (Solanaceae). Taxon, 60(3), 681–690.

Li, X. M., Li, X. L., & Zhou, A. G. (2007). Evaluation of antioxidant activity of the polysaccharides extracted from Lycium barbarum fruits in vitro. European Polymer Journal, 43(2), 488–497.

Lin, L. (2013). A comparative study on the quality of Lycium barbarum fruit from different producing areas and screening of fine strains. Gansu Agricultural University, Gansu.

Liu, Y., Lv, J., Yang, B., Liu, F., Tian, Z., Cai, Y., Yang, D., Ouyang, J., Sun, F., Shi, Y., & Xia, P. (2015). Lycium barbarum polysaccharide attenuates type II collagen-induced arthritis in mice. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 78, 318–323.

Ma, Z. F., Zhang, H., Teh, S. S., Wang, C. W., Zhang, Y., Hayford, F., Wang, L., Ma, T., Dong, Z., Zhang, Y., & Zhu, Y. (2019). Goji berries as a potential natural antioxidant medicine: An insight into their molecular mechanisms of action. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, 2019, 1–9.

Marosz, A. (2017). Fruits of goji berry (Lycium barbarum and Lycium chinense) – new possibility for horticulture or risk for consumers? Annales Horticulturae, 27(1), 19–30.

Mosyakin, S. L., & Fedoronchuk, M. M. (1999). Vascular plants of Ukraine: A nomenclatural checklist. M. G. Kholodny Institute of Botany, Kiev.

Nardi, G. M., De Farias Januário, A. G., Freire, C. G., Megiolaro, F., Schneider, K., Perazzoli, M. R. A., Nascimento, S. R. D., Gon, A. C., Mariano, L. N. B., Wagner, G., Niero, R., Locatelli, C., & Locatelli, C. (2016). Antiinflammatory activity of berry fruits in mice model of inflammation is based on oxidative stress modulation. Pharmacognosy Research, 8, 42–49.

Niro, S., Fratianni, A., Panfili, G., Falasca, L., Cinquanta, L., & Alam, M. R. (2017). Nutritional evaluation of fresh and dried goji berries cultivated in Italy. Italian Journal of Food Science, 29(3), 398–408.

Potterat, O. (2010). Goji (Lycium barbarum and L. chinense): Phytochemistry, pharmacology and safety in the perspective of traditional uses and recent popularity. Planta Medica, 76(1), 7–19.

Protti, M., Gualandi, I., Mandrioli, R., Zappoli, S., Tonelli, D., & Mercolini, L. (2017). Analytical profiling of selected antioxidants and total antioxidant capacity of goji (Lycium spp.) berries. Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, 143, 252–260.

Pyšek, P., Sádlo, J., & Mandák, B. (2002). Catalogue of alien plants of the Czech Republic. Preslia, 74, 97–186.

Qi, G., Su, X., Zheng, G., Yang, J., Bao, H., & Wang, J. (2016). Effect of meteorological factor on fruit growth and accumulation of polysaccharides in Lycium barbarum. Chinese Bullerin of Botany, 51, 311–321.

Qian, D., Yang, J., Kang, L., Ji, R., & Huang, L. (2017). Variation of sweet chemicals in different ripening stages of wolfberry fruits. Chinese Herbal Medicines, 9(4), 329–334.

Qin, K., Dai, G., Cao, Y., Jiao, E., Tang, H., Yan, Y., He, J., & Li, R. (2012a). A new wolfberry cultivar ‘Ningqi 7’. Acta Horticulturae Sinica, 39(11), 2331–2332.

Qin, K., Dai, G., Liu, Y., Tang, H., Jiao, E., Li, R., He, J., & Yan, Y. (2012b). A new wolfberry cultivar ‘Ningqi 5’. Acta Horticulturae Sinica, 39(10), 2099–2100.

Ruzdik, N. M., Karov, I., Mitrev, S., Gorgieva, B., Kovacevik, B., & Kostadinovska, E. (2015). Evaluation of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) varieties using multivariate statistical analysis. Helia, 38(63), 1–12.

Szot, I., Zhurba, M., & Klymenko, S. (2020). Pro-health and functional properties of goji berry (Lycium spp.). Agrobiodiversity for Improving Nutrition, Health and Life Quality, 4, 134–145.

Vinogradova, Y., Grygorieva, O., Vergun, O., & Brindza, J. (2017). Morphological characteristics for fruits of Aronia mitschurinii A. K. Skvortsov & Maitul. Potravinarstvo Slovak Journal of Food Sciences, 11(1), 754–760.

Wang, C. C., Chang, S. C., Inbaraj, B. S., & Chen, B. H. (2010). Isolation of carotenoids, flavonoids and polysaccharides from Lycium barbarum L. and evaluation of antioxidant activity. Food Chemistry, 120(1), 184–192.

Wang, S., Suh, J. H., Zheng, X., Wang, Y., & Ho, C. T. (2017). Identification and quantification of potential anti-inflammatory hydroxycinnamic acid amides from wolfberry. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 65(2), 364–372.

Wang, Y., Wang, J., & Chang, H. (2011). A new table wolfberry cultivar ‘Ningqi 6’. Acta Horticulturae Sinica, 38(5), 1015–1016.

Wawruszak, A., Czerwonka, A., Okła, K., & Rzeski, W. (2016). Anticancer effect of ethanol Lycium barbarum (Goji berry) extract on human breast cancer T47D cell line. Natural Product Research, 30(17), 1993–1996.

Wojdyło, A., Nowicka, P., & Bąbelewski, P. (2018). Phenolic and carotenoid profile of new goji cultivars and their anti-hyperglycemic, anti-aging and antioxidant properties. Journal of Functional Foods, 48, 632–642.

Xie, C., Xu, L. Z., Li, X. M., Li, K. M., Zhao, B. H., & Yang, S. L. (2001). Studies on chemical constituents in fruit of Lycium barbarum L. China Journal of Chinese Materia Medica, 26(5), 323–324.

Yang, T., Dong, J., Yue, J., & Wang, Y. (2015). A new wolfberry cultivar ‘Zhongke Luchuan 1’. Acta Horticulturae Sinica, 42(12), 2557–2558.

Yao, R., Heinrich, M., & Weckerle, C. S. (2018a). The genus Lycium as food and medicine: A botanical, ethnobotanical and historical review. Journal of Ethno-pharmacology, 212, 50–66.

Yao, R., Heinrich, M., Zou, Y., Reich, E., Zhang, X., Chen, Y., & Weckerle, C. S. (2018b). Quality variation of goji (fruits of Lycium spp.) in China: A comparative morphological and metabolomic analysis. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 9, 1–12.

Zhurba, M. (2019). Morphomethric parameters of genotypes of Lycium chinense Mill. in collection of M. M. Gryshko National Botanical Garden of NAS of Ukraine. In: 4th International Scientific Conference Agrobiodiversity for Improve the Nutrition, Health and Quality of Human and Bees Life. Nitra. P. 155.

Published
2021-03-05
How to Cite
Zhurba, M. Y., Klymenko, S. V., & Szot, I. (2021). Quality variation of fruits of species of the genus Lycium in Ukraine: A comparative morphological analysis . Regulatory Mechanisms in Biosystems, 12(1), 14-19. https://doi.org/10.15421/022103