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Hundreds of fruit species with commercial potential are currently in a status of low economic importance. Some, such as quince, pomegranate, and figs, have been cultivated for thousands of years. Others have only been locally collected and consumed from wild populations of the fruit. The development of these underappreciated crops depends on a rang...
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... Its leaves are lanceolate or oval. The leaves are large, 5-20 cm long, 3-5 cm wide and consist of 9-11 leaflets, the latter lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, with long pointed tips with an oblique base [10]. The flowers of the plant are hermaphrodite. ...
... The flowering of the plant generally occurs from the end of April to the end of July, and the fruits ripen from August to the first month of October and fall at the end of autumn [12]. The fruits are small, in large clusters and approximately 3-5 mm in diameter [10]. The fruits are round drupes and have a slight odor when ripe, and their color can be brown-black, blue, red, orange, reddish-purple or yellow [13]. ...
Sambucus species are distributed in regions with temperate and subtropical climates on earth. The high economic value of Sambucus species to humans has increased their economic cultivation in recent years, which has encouraged their rapid spread. Sambucus ebulus L. species is widely distributed especially in Southern and Central Europe, Northwest Africa and Southwest Asia (especially Northern Iran). S. ebulus plant is an important medicinal plant used in folk medicine by the peoples of the Balkan Peninsula, Western Europe and the Middle East. The plant has no special soil requirements. It can be grown in almost any soil type. It has high resistance to prevailing winds. Various parts of the plant have been traditionally used to treat bites, burns, infectious wounds, edema, eczema, urticaria, arthritis and sore throat.
... Honey berry is notable for its early maturity, high ascorbic acid content in its fruits, and bioactive flavonoid content. One of the most important features of this berry is its exceptional frost resistance to cold, its suitability for mechanized harvesting, and its resistance to diseases and pests [49]. Its cultivation is still taking place in Russia, Japan, Poland, the Czech Republic and Canada. ...
Global climate change and possible drought scenarios have forced researchers, breeders and producers to create new plant patterns that will adapt to changing climate and soil conditions for production of horticultural plants in the future. Here, the most important topic is the shortening of the physiological growth period of plants due to abiotic stress. In other words, reductions experienced in both cooling needs and matu-ration periods cause negative impacts on flowering times and amounts, and this causes significant loss of yield. In recent years, the production of berry fruits that will adapt to drought conditions has attracted the attention of breeders and producers. The aim of this study is to discuss in detail the possibilities of producing berry fruits that are resistant to drought and negative climate conditions and to present research results and recommendations about this topic. In this study, the production opportunities in arid and negative climate conditions for the berry fruits of strawberry (Fragaria vesca L.), mulberry (Morus spp.), fig (Ficus carica L.), blackberry (Rubus fruticosus L.), choke-berry (Aronia melanocarpa L.), rosehip (Rosa canina L.), raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.) and blueberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) were researched and recommendations are made about production methods for some varieties and types resistant to drought in berry fruit cultivation.
... Despite the limitations of cytotaxonomic approaches for species circumscription of the Sambucus genus [71], the close correlation between the major karyotypes and effective chromosome pairing in hybrids supports the hypothesis that several species are interfertile horticultural types. [71,72]. The 2C DNA content of S. nigra has been estimated at 28.6 pg [73] and 21.9 pg [74]. ...
... Although the information is scarce, it is likely that current germplasm releases tend to satisfy the needs of landscape management and gardening, with different leaf shapes and colors of the foliage and flowers [94]. Breeding efforts in the past have been devoted especially towards the improvement of the visual, productive, and quality features of the fruits, such as color (intensity and glossiness), size, weight, firmness, and the pulp-to-seed ratio [72]. There is little doubt that the variability in Sambucus nigra and its interspecific hybrids could be sufficient to select superior genotypes at the biochemical level [21,24,88,95], but studies addressing heritability and the G × E interaction are rare and mainly focus on the comparison of varieties in different locations across years. ...
Sambucus is a cosmopolitan plant genus that has been used for centuries for its medicinal properties and nutritional value. Sambucus nigra, the most studied species, contains a wide range of bioactive compounds that have been linked to various health benefits. Moreover, the fruit of the elderberry is a rich source of phytochemicals and is used to make a variety of food products. In this review, after an introduction of the species, we outline the main points for its cultivation and production. We then illustrate the major phytochemical components and related beneficial properties, such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, and pharmaceutical activities. We also provide insights into genetic variability, functional diversity, and some evolutionary relationships that were evaluated with DNA-based techniques. We discuss that despite its long history of use and potential benefits, Sambucus nigra has received relatively little attention in terms of horticulture, breeding, and molecular genetics, while studies on its biochemical composition and health benefits are well developed. Further research is also needed to better understand the pre-harvest and post-harvest factors that influence plant growth and production, as well as to explore new applications and industrial uses of this underutilized species.
... 1864 (blue honeysuckle) is a deciduous shrub that produces blue-black edible berries with a high concentration of anthocyanins, phenolic acids, and polyphenols (Becker and Szakiel 2019). As a circumpolar species, its tree and flower are hardy to À50 C and À7 C, respectively (Plekhanova 2000, Hummer et al. 2012. Thus, its cultivation and breeding have undergone fast progress during the past two decades in the cold regions of the Northern Hemisphere, especially in Russia, China, and Canada (Huo et al. 2005, Gerbrandt et al. 2017. ...
Lonicera caerulea var. edulis, known as “blue honeysuckle” or “Haskap,” is a deciduous shrub that belongs to the Caprifoliaceae family. Characterized by the high cold hardiness and high quality of fruit, it has become a novel cash crop in cold regions worldwide. The lack of available chloroplast (cp) genome information limits studies of its molecular breeding and phylogeny. Here, the complete cp genome of Lonicera caerulea var. edulis was assembled and characterized for the first time. It was 155,142 bp in length with 38.43% of GC content, including 23,841 bp inverted repeat regions (IRs), an 88,737 bp large single-copy region (LSC), and an 18,723 bp small single-copy region (SSC). A total of 132 genes, including 85 protein-coding genes, 8 rRNA genes, and 39 tRNA genes were annotated. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that L. caerulea var. edulis was closely related to L. tangutica. These data and results provide a valuable resource for the development of breeding tools and genetic diversity studies for L. caerulea.
... The flowers are born in terminal flat topped umbellate or corymbose cymes that are pyramidal paniculate [4]. The fruits are small rounded berry-like drupes (4-7 mm in diameter) with distinct colors at maturity, three to five pyrenes, and three to five triquetrous or ellipsoid seeds [5,6]. The center of generic diversity is central Asia [7], with the parent type established as long as the Oligocene period. ...
The genus Sambucus belongs to the family Viburnaceae, and has long been a debatable taxon regarding its systematics and taxonomic assignment. It is known for its morphological and genetic variations and thus the taxonomic delimitation remains uncertain. Phenotypic and genotypic variations within plant species causes difficulties in the detection of species boundaries. In the present review, we compiled a set of studies that assessed species discrimination within Sambucus genus by morphological and molecular markers as well as the taxonomic uncertainties in the re-circumscription of the segregated genera i.e., Viburnum L., Sambucus L., and Adoxa L., (syn. Sinadoxa C.Y. Wu, Z.L. Wu & R.F. Huang/Tetradoxa C.Y. Wu) from Caprifoliaceae and their family assignment. The data was obtained from published journal articles and various online databases. Morphological and molecular diagnostic characters were employed to distinguish Sambucus species. Our findings indicated that high intraspecific variations within narrow-ranged populations and their widespread counterparts contribute to its taxonomic complications. Additionally, intraspecific variations within Sambucus species leads to misidentifications and the misapplication of names, occasioning the publication of many putative synonyms and ambiguous names. Possible interspecific hybridizations experienced between Sambucus species increases complexity in character evolution. A morphological analysis showed that the endocarp seed morphological characters can reliably support the segregation of Sambucus taxa into discrete taxonomic entities. In molecular analysis, the NeighborNet (NN) phylogenetic split network revealed three distinct genera including Viburnum, Sambucus, and Adoxa, which clustered separately. The Maximum Likelihood (ML) analysis indicated that the Sambucus species formed a monophyletic group and clustered into two major clades, a small clade containing S. maderensis, S. peruviana, S. nigra, and S. canadensis, and a large clade encompassing the rest of the species with significantly supported clades (<52%). The preferred family assignment for Sambucus is Viburnaceae.
... The crop ripens early between May and June, before many other fruits and produces purple berries between 1 cm and 2 cm in length with varying shape depending on the cultivar (MacKenzie et al., 2017). Appreciation of the taste, nutritional benefits and versatility of the berries has led to increasing popularity in commercial growing areas and novel breeding programmes in Canada, Japan, Russia, Poland and more recently the UK (Hummer et al., 2012;MacKenzie et al., 2017;Ochmian et al., 2010;Thompson & Chaovanalikit, 2006). ...
... The perennial fruit-bearing bush is native throughout the temperate climates in the Northern hemisphere. An attractive characteristic of this crop for growers is its ability to tolerate extreme cold temperatures with the dormant overwintering crop able to resist temperatures of down to À40 C to À50 C depending on the variety and even open flowers able to tolerate temperatures as low as À8 C (Hummer et al., 2012;MacKenzie et al., 2017;Ochmian et al., 2012). It has also been noted for its high level of resistance to many pests and diseases (Ochmian et al., 2012). ...
Lonicera caeruleabrix is a perennial shrub native to North America, Europe and Asia. It produces dark blue berries known as honeyberries or haskap berries which are produced commercially in several territories including Canada, Japan, Russia and Poland. Plants are suited to UK environments, but it is yet to be widely commercially developed in the UK. In the present work, quality and nutritional traits of six honeyberry cultivars grown in Scotland were compared with other commonly grown berry fruits (strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, blackcurrant) to aid the identification of environmentally stable, high‐quality honeyberry cultivars suitable for UK cultivation. Differences were observed in fruit quality variables (soluble solids, titratable acidity and Brix/acid ratios) between honeyberry cultivars. Three of six cultivars examined exhibited notable variation in soluble solids dependent on harvest year with ‘Aurora’ and ‘Strawberry Sensation’ having consistently high oBrix values. Titratable acidity exhibited cultivar differences and there was limited variation over harvest years. ‘Aurora’ exhibited consistently high oBrix/titratable acidity ratio reflected by high glucose and fructose content. Honeyberry fruit had good nutritional profile relative to other soft fruits with higher polyphenol and anthocyanin content than strawberry, blueberry, blackberry and raspberry, manifested in greater antioxidant capacity. The major anthocyanins in aqueous honeyberry fruit extracts were cyanidin, pelargonidin and peonidin glycosides. These findings indicate that L. caerulea represents a crop suitable for UK cultivation capable of producing high quality fruit with a valuable nutritional profile relative to other soft fruits. Cultivars exhibit significant differences in fruit quality and nutritional profile as well as harvest consistency and growers should consider this when establishing new plantations.
... The Goji has been used for millennia in China and neighboring countries for maintaining good health through traditional medicine and cuisine, and the recent attention in western countries is due to the high amounts of functional components, such as sugars, carotenoids, and essential fatty acids from plants (Yossa Nzeuwa et al., 2019, Chen et al., 2020). According to various authors, the genus Lycium includes globally more than 100 (Hummer et al. 2012), 80 (Zeng et al., 2014), or 70 species (Mocan et al., 2014) of deciduous or evergreen woody shrubs, but only three species are considered having high commercial value, L. barbarum, L. chinense and L. ruthenicum. The chemical diversity of L. barbarum fruits provide many opportunities in the worldwide polyphenol market (Mocan et al., 2019). ...
In Europe, the goji crop is expanding rapidly, to satisfy the increased market demand for functional foods, with effects in chronic diseases treatment (cancer, diabetes, atherosclerosis, etc.). Romania has become in recent years one of the most important growers of goji berry, especially for organic production, as the species was quite resistant to main pests and diseases. Still, in 2008, a non-indigenous species of Eriophyid mites, called Aceria kuko, was identified on goji plants in UK and spread rapidly throughout the EU. The plant protection institutions took eradication measures, however the pest continued to spread in new plantations and recently on spontaneous plants. Based on GBIF, iNaturalist, personal observations and communication, the paper presents the current distribution of goji berry gall mite in Europe and in Romania and also suggests the use of new citizen science tool-ProtectGoji maps, that aims both to increase awareness of goji producers and consumers about this pest and to geolocate the species expansion in Romania for a better containment and control strategy.
... Widely grown S. nigra cultivars 'Haschberg', 'Korsor', 'Mammoth', 'Allesø' originate from wild selections demonstrating the importance of wild S. nigra germplasm as a valuable genetic source for S. nigra breeding (Hummer et al., 2012). Despite the wide native range of the species, the majority of commercial cultivars originate from a comparatively narrow geographical regions of Austria, Germany, and Denmark. ...
Berries and flowers of Sambucus nigra L. tree are well known for their ability to mitigate symptoms of upper respiratory disorders related to reported antiviral properties. Industrial application and commercial cultivation of S. nigra is largely limited to a few widely grown cultivars. Restricted genetic diversity of cultivated S. nigra can be disadvantageous if new industrial applications are discovered. In this study wild S. nigra populations located on the north-east edge of the species natural range were explored by assessing genetic origin, berry and flower anti-oxidative potential, and berry rutin content. Best performing wild S. nigra extracts were selected for an assessment of previously unreported biological activity- inhibitory capacity against SARS-CoV2 S1 protein receptor binding domain (RBD) binding to recombinant human angiotensin -converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor in vitro based on competitive enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) marker-based genetic characterization suggested that explored wild S. nigra populations result from wild gene pool expanding northwards with admixture of historically introduced cultivated S. nigra. Average values of total phenolic content, anti-radical activity, and total flavonoids content of wild S. nigra populations did not exceed those of cv. ‘Haschberg’. Concentration-dependent inhibition of ACE2-SARS-CoV2 S-protein RBD binding was demonstrated in vitro for elderberry fruits and flowers extracts (IC50 of 1.66 mg DW ml⁻¹ and 0.532 mg DW ml⁻¹, respectively). Wild elderberry fruit extract exhibited higher inhibitory capacity than the extract from berries of cv ‘Haschberg’. This study validates the requirement for S. nigra wild germplasm bioprospecting and opens up directions for further research of new anti-SARS-CoV2 industrial applications of S. nigra.
... latitudes, it has spread from its center of the origin or native area to the countries up to the Himalayan mountains in the eastern side extending to China, while as in the west, it has spread to most of the Europe and Mediterranean region (Hummer et al. 2011;Ashraf et al. 2016). As per guesstimates of some botanists, its cultivation for commercial gains began especially in the Transcaucasia region approximately around 4000 BC. ...
... Theophrastus (371-287 BC), a Greek philosopher and popularly known as Father of Botany described this plant in his "Enquiry into Plants" (Historia Plantarum) and noted that it was one of the fruiting plants that do not come true from seed. Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) in his "Natural History" has also mentioned a few types of quince and revealed some of their valued and beneficial characteristics (Hummer et al. 2011). Quinces are presumed to spread in the thirteenth century to Britain from France, where they were prevalent. ...
... In several European countries and parts of Latin America, a paste or a jelly-like fragrant sweet confection (membrillo) made from quince is consumed with cheese after cutting into pieces. Quince is also consumed with wine and cooked for sweet dishes and savory in many parts of the world (Ghazarian 2009;Hummer et al. 2011). It is mentioned in a few utterances (Ahadees) of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) about its health benefits as Tib e Nabvi (Prophetic medicine). ...
Quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) is an important deciduous fruit tree species, belonging to the Rosaceae family. Although it is native to the western Asia region, it is also grown in several other parts of the world. As quince is a temperate fruit, it can grow only in few regions of India, especially Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. The fruit possesses a plethora of medicinal properties because of its varied chemical composition. As a nutritional and dietary food source, it contains carbohydrates, fat, proteins, fibers, vitamins, and minerals. The quince fruits are also known for their distinctive flavor, fragrance, hardness, and acerbity. They are known to have astringent, carminative, antivinous, and laxative properties. Quince is also known to contain medicinally important metabolites such as phenolics, flavonoids, carotenoids, organic acids, terpenoids, tannins, and other volatile compounds. These metabolites in fruits, as well as other organs, are accountable for many important medicinal properties like antioxidant, antidiabetic, anti-atherosclerotic, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antiallergic, hepatoprotective, aphrodisiac, antidiarrheal, antidepressant, diuretic, etc. Besides this, they are also used in the management and cure of hepatitis, influenza, skin abrasions, ulcers, constipation, sore throat, respiratory tract, and urinary problems. Quince can be considered as an ancient nourishing fruit with a copious potential with health-promoting roles and medicinal properties.
... Haskap plants or blue honeysuckle, Lonicera caerulea, are known for their berries which are rich in antioxidants due to the presence of various bioactive compounds such as anthocyanins and flavonoids (Celli et al. 2014;Khattab et al. 2016). They have recently gained interest as a commercial crop in North America, particularly Canada, due to their ability to withstand severe cold climates, such as in the northern prairie region (Hummer et al. 2012). These deciduous shrubs shed their leaves annually, resulting in an abundant source of leaves. ...
Aqueous two-phase flotation (ATPF) was used for the extraction and partial purification of bioactive compounds from haskap leaves. Two ATPF systems, ammonium sulfate/ethanol and sodium phosphate/ethanol, were compared. A Box-Behnken approach was used to investigate the operating parameters which included sample loading (5.0, 52.5, and 100.0 mg), flotation time (5, 62.5, 120 min), and air flow rate (11.4, 20.0, 28.6 mL/min). Response surface optimization was performed to maximize the yields of chlorogenic acid (CGA), flavonoids, and total phenolics (total phenolic content, TPC). At the optimized parameters for the ammonium sulfate/ethanol ATPF system (i.e., 5-mg leaves, 120-min flotation time, and air flow rate of 28.6 mL/min), the extraction efficiencies were 97.1%, 98.7%, and 99.6% for CGA, flavonoids, and TPC, respectively. The corresponding partition coefficients were 29.6 for CGA, 62.4 for flavonoids, and 231.4 for TPC. Quantitation of individual compounds using high-performance liquid chromatography showed that ATPF with ammonium sulfate/ethanol achieved yields of 0.031 mg CGA/mg dry mass leaves, 0.027-mg rutin/mg dry mass leaves, 0.006-mg luteolin-7-O-glucoside/mg dry mass leaves, and 0.007-mg diosmin/mg dry mass leaves. Based on the overall extraction performance, ammonium sulfate/ethanol ATPF is the preferred system in comparison to sodium phosphate/ethanol ATPF, for the extraction of bioactive compounds from haskap leaves.
