Selected cultivars of cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L.) as a new food source for human nutrition

The aim of this work was to determine antioxidant activity in 12 cultivars of cornelian cherry (Cornusmas L.). Two assays based on ion reduction of ABTS (2,2´-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonate) and DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radicals were used for antioxidant activity. Totalphenolic content of the fruit was analysed by Folin-Ciocelteau colorimetric method and ascorbic acidcontent was analysed using column chromatography - electrochemical detector (Coulochem III). Thehighest amounts of total phenolic content were found in cultivars ´Vydubeckij´ and ´Titus´ as 7.96 and8.11 g gallic acid kg-1 of fresh mass (FM). High correlation between polyphenols and antioxidant activityin fruits of the cultivars was observed (r2 = 0.970 for DPPH test and r2 = 0.978 for ABTS test). Thehighest total content of ascorbic acid was determined in cultivar ´Olomoucky´, with the value of 3.11 gkg-1 FM. This study attempts to contribute to the knowledge of human nutritional properties of thesecornelian cherry cultivars and may be useful for the evaluation of dietary information and furtherpropagation of cultivation and utilization of this fruit in the world