Investigating Some Physicochemical Characteristics of Seedless Barberry (Berberis vulgaris) Fruits in Three Geographical Regions of Iran

Water deficiency and poor soils are the most critical limiting factors for agriculture in Iran. Therefore, it is very important to cultivate plants such as barberry that tolerate these conditions. In this study, we investigated some physicochemical characteristics of barberry fruits in three different regions in Qazvin province. The seedless barberry plants were obtained from the Ghaenat orchards in South Khorasan, and cultivated in the Esmailabad, Yezbar and Alamut located research stations in the Qazvin, Abyek and Moalem Kelayeh cities, respectively. The phenological and fruit characteristics of plants were evaluated in different research areas. According to the results, the earliest times of flowering and fruit set occurred in the Yezbar station with a lower altitude (1170 m), followed by Esmailabad (1329 m) and Alamut (1450 m) regions. Fruit ripening date in the Alamut with a higher altitude was earlier than in other regions. The highest fresh (1.5 g) and dry weights (0.31 g) of 10 fruits were also observed in the Alamut region. The highest and the lowest fruit pH (2.96-2.6) and soluble solids (20.48-17.18%) were observed in the stations Yezbar, and Alamut, respectively. The highest and the lowest amounts of anthocyanin (432.67-273.1 mg.g-1 dry weight), titratable acid (3.84 -1.5 %) and ascorbic acid (794.1-573.6 mg.100 g -1 dry weight) were observed in Alamut and Yezbar regions, respectively. The highest amounts of anthocyanin, titratable acid, and ascorbic acid belonged to the fruits harvested from the Alamut with a higher altitude. Based on the results, the quality of the fruit depends on the altitude of the region, and increasing the altitude improves the quality of the fruit. It can be concluded that barberry fruits in the Alamut region with better nutritional value and the examined fruit indices in this region were better than the other regions.