Cornelian cherry

Pantelidis GE, Vasilakakis M, Manganaris GA and Diamantidis GR. 2007. Antioxidant capacity, phenol, an-thocyanin and ascorbic acid contents in raspberries, blackberries, red currants, gooseberries and Cornelian cherries. Food Chem 102(3) 777-783. 

OCN Asiatic cornel Asiatic cornelian cherry Japanese... 

Asiatic Cornelian Cherry Fruit is the dried ripe sarcocarp of Cornus officinalis Sieb. et Zucc. (Fam. Comaceae). 

Japanese Cornel Cornus offlcinalis L.) - a shrub or a 4 to 10 m tall tree, very similar to Cornelian cherry, native to China, Japan and Korea The edible but flavorless fruits are 2 cm spherical scarlet to purple drupes, ripen late in the fall. 

Among the most common methods are those which use acidic methanol (1% HCl) as extracting solvent at room temperature [Vareed et al., 2006]. Jayaprakasam et al. (2005) used acidified water (pH = 3) to isolate anthocyanins from Cornus officinalis and Cornus mas fruits, Moldovan et al. (2014) reported the extraction of pigments from frozen Cornelian cherries in acetone while Pantelidis et al. (2007) used air dried fruits (at 55°C) and 50% aqueous methanol as solvent. In the anthocyanins extraction from Cornus alba Sibirica the plant material was extracted with methanol containing 0.2% trifluoroacetic acid [Bjoroy et al., 2007]. 

Cornelian cherry fruits are superior in tannin content to many other fruit species. Bijelic and co-workers investigated 18 Cornus mas L. genotypes from Voivodina province and reported values ranging from 560 mg to 1470 mg tannins / lOOg fruits [Bijelic et al., 2011]. Comparable values of the tannin content are reported for Turkish Cornelian cherry genotypes by Ercisli et al. (2011) who foimd a mean value of 0.89% tannins in fruits. 

The first report identifying the iridoid content of Cornus mas fruits mentioned loganic acid as the major monoterpenoid in Cornelian cherries with a concentration of 1.67 mg/g fresh fruit puree [West et al., 2012]. 

At least 15 aminoacids were identified in Cornelian cherries, e g. aspartic acid, glutamic acid, serine, histidine, glycine, threonine and arginine [Brindza et al., 2009]. 

Cornelian cherries contain a special type of polysaccharide, calcium-pectate, which is able to reduce the level of low density lipoprotein cholesterol in human blood and also acts as... 

Literature data report that Cornelian cherry juice is remarkable rich in various essential microelements. Copper, iron, phosphorus, zinc, manganese, potassium, sodium, calcium and magnesium are the main microelements identified by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) in the ash of Cornus mas fruits mesocarp [Bijelic et al., 2011 Cindric et al., 2012 Deng et al., 2013]. The calcium level of the juice obtained from these fruits is 10 fold higher compared to other juices, e.g. apple and pear, reaching a value of 323 mg/L. The potassium concentration was also high (1639 mg/L) [Krosniak et al., 2010]. 

Mineral constituents are essential for normal development of humans. As essential elements are not synthesized in body they must be obtained from dietary sources. They play important roles in the metabolic functions. Calcium and phosphorus are essential for bone structure, potassium and sodium are involved in the functions of all organs, iron, copper and manganese are important for enzymatic functions. Cornelian cherry fruits, being rich in essential elements, might be considered as important nutritional supplements. 

In reeent years, consumers have paid increasing attention to finits with high antioxidant aetivity, such as elderberry, lingonberry, honeysuckle, medlar but also Cornelian cherries. Reeently, a lot of studies have been published about the antioxidant activity of Comus spp. fruits [Tural and Koca, 2008 Pantelidis et al., 2007 Popovic et al., 2012]. 

All investigated Cornelian cherry genotypes showed high antioxidant capacity evaluated by all mentioned antioxidant assays [Yihnaz et al., 2009 Popovic et al., 2012 Hassanpour et... 

The prooxidant aetivity was also assessed. Cornelian cherry fruits showing the lowest prooxidant aetivity among five investigated finits [Pantelidis et al., 2007]. 

Brindza, P, Brindza, J, Toth, D, Klimenko, SV, Grigorieva, O. Biologieal and eommereial characteristics of Cornelian cherry Cornus mas L.) population in the Gemer region of Slovakia. ActaHort., 2009, 818, 85-94... 

Capanoglu, E, Boyacioglu, D, de Vos, RCH, Hall, RD, Beekwilder, J. Procyanidins in fruit from Sour cherry Prunus cerasus) differ strongly in chain lenght from those in Laurel cherry Prunus lauracerasus) and Cornelian cherry Comus mas). J. Berry Res., 2011, 1, 137-146... 

Celik, S, Bakirici, 1, Sat, IG.Physico-chemical and organoleptic properties of yogurt with Cornelian cherry paste./ f. J. Food Prop., 2006, 9,401-408... 

Cindric, IJ, Zeiner, M, Krpetic, M, Stingeder, G. ICP-AES determination of minor and major elements in Cornelian cherry Cornus mas L.) after microwave assisted digestion. Microchem. J., 2012,105, 72-76... 

Omar, R, Li, L, Yuan, T, Seeram, NP. a-Glucosidase inhibitory hydrolysable tannins frxim Eugenia jambolana seeds. J. Nat. Prod., 2012,75, 1505-1509 PanteUdis, GE, Vasilakakis, M, Manganaris, GA, Diamantidis, G. Antioxidant capacity, phenol, anthocyanin and ascorbic acid contents in raspberries, blackberries, red currants, gooseberries and Cornelian cherries. Food Chem., 2007, 102, 777-783... 

Tural, S, Koca, 1. Physico-chemical and antioxidant properties of Cornelian cherry fruits Cornus mas L.) grown in Turkey. Sci. Hortic., 2008, 116, 362-366 Vareed, SK, Reddy, MK, Schutzki, RE, Nair, MG. Anthocyanins in Cornus alternifolia, Cornus controversa, Cornus kousa and Cornus florida fruits with health benefits. Life Sci., 2006, 78, 777-784... 

Yilmaz, KU, Ercisli, S, Zengin, Y, Sengul, M, Kafkas, EY. Preliminary characterization of Cornelian cherry Cornus mas L.) genotypes for their physico-chemical properties. Food Chem., 2009, 114,408-412... 

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