Scientia Horticulturae 119 (2009) 275–279

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Scientia Horticulturae
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/scihorti

Phytochemical and antioxidant properties of anthocyanin-rich

Morus nigra and Morus rubra fruits
Mustafa Özgen a,*, Sedat Serçe b, Cemal Kaya c
a
Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Gaziosmanpaşa, 60240 Tokat, Turkey
b
Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Mustafa Kemal University, 31040 Antakya, Hatay, Turkey
c
Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Gaziosmanpaşa, 60240 Tokat, Turkey

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history: In this study, phytochemical and antioxidant properties of anthocyanin-rich mulberry species of Morus
Received 20 June 2008 nigra L. (black mulberry) and Morus rubra L. (red mulberry) fruits harvested from across Turkey were
Received in revised form 7 August 2008 investigated. Fruit color, total phenolics (TP), total monomeric anthocyanin (TMA), titratable acidity (TA),
Accepted 12 August 2008
and individual sugar and organic acid compositions were determined. Total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of
fruits was assessed by both the trolox-equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) and the ferric reducing
Keywords:
antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. Black mulberry exhibited higher TP, TMA, TAC and TA when compared
Anthocyanin
to red mulberry. The average TP contents of M. nigra and M. rubra were 2737 and 1603 mg gallic acid
FRAP
Black mulberry
equivalent in g fresh weight basis (GAE/g fw), respectively. M. nigra had the richest amount of
Red mulberry anthocyanin with an average of 571 mg cy-3-glu/g fw. Overall, TAC averaged 10.5 and 12.0 mmol TE/L by
Organic acids the TEAC and FRAP methods, respectively. We found that FRAP, TEAC, TP and TMA were significantly
Phenolic correlated (r = 0.64–0.99) with each other. Fructose (5.27 g/100 mL) and glucose (5.81 g/100 mL) were
TEAC determined to be the major sugars in both mulberries. M. nigra displayed a higher TA (2.05 g/100 mL)
than M. rubra (0.78 g/100 mL), with citric acid as the major acid.
ß 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Several researchers have previously reported that anthocyanins

have remarkable antioxidant and free-radical scavenging activities
Mulberry (Morus sp.) has been domesticated over thousands of (Stintzing et al., 2002; Wang et al., 1997). Additionally, multiple
years and has been adapted to a wide area of tropical, subtropical, findings suggest that anthocyanin contents of berries and red fruits
and temperate zones of Asia, Europe, North and South America, and may provide possible health benefits such as reduced risk of
Africa. The most important widely grown anthocyanin-rich Morus coronary heart disease, stroke, certain types of cancers and aging
species are Morus alba, Morus rubra, and Morus nigra. Morus alba (Prior, 2003; Zafra-Stone et al., 2007).
has white and purple fruits with a very sweet taste and low acidity. Identification and quantification of anthocyanins, phenolics
Its fruits are perishable and mostly used for fresh consumption. M. and antioxidant properties of red fruits, especially berries, are well
rubra, known as ‘‘red mulberry’’, is high in dry matter and has a defined (Özgen et al., 2007; Sun et al., 2002; Çelik et al., 2008). Also,
sweet taste and low acidity. M. nigra, known as ‘‘black mulberry’’, there are a number of detailed studies showing health benefits of
has juicy fruits with extraordinary color and a unique, slightly the individual fruits. However, studies on characterization and
acidic flavor. Mulberry trees have historically been used for leaf quantification of phytochemical and antioxidant properties of
yield in sericulture. In addition, their fruit, roots and bark have mulberry fruits are very limited. Previously, Ercisli and Orhan
been used in folk medicine (especially in Chinese medicine) to treat (2007), Gerasopoulos and Stavroulakis (1997) and Güneş and Çekiç
diabetes, hypertension, and anemia and arthritis. Also, black (2004) studied the quality and chemical characteristics of some of
mulberry fruits are used for treating mouth lesions in Turkey. the Morus species; however, these studies were focused on specific
Recently, red and black mulberries have gained an important local cultivars or genotypes with limited phytochemical and
position in the food industry due to the presence of anthocyanins. antioxidant properties. Lee et al. (2004) found that mulberries have
cyanidin-based anthocyanins, particularly cyanidin-3-glucoside
and cyanidin-3-rutinoside. However, the biological and pharma-
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 356 2521616x2110; fax: +90 356 2521488. cological effects of these fruits are still poorly defined. In recent
E-mail address: [email protected] (M. Özgen). studies, Naderi et al. (2004) found that extracts of M. nigra fruits

0304-4238/$ – see front matter ß 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.scienta.2008.08.007
276 M. Özgen et al. / Scientia Horticulturae 119 (2009) 275–279

have a protective action against peroxidative damage to biomem- of the reaction mixture at 593 nm was determined on a spec-
branes and biomolecules. trophotometer.
In this study, our objective was to investigate anthocyanin-rich
mulberry species chosen from across Turkey as a nationwide 2.2.3.2. Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC). For the
selection program, and compare their phytochemical and anti- standard TEAC assay, ABTS (2,2-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazo-
oxidant properties. line-6-sulfonic acid) was dissolved in acetate buffer and prepared
with potassium persulfate as described in Özgen et al. (2006). The
2. Materials and methods mixture was diluted in acidic medium of 20 mM sodium acetate
buffer (pH 4.5) to an absorbance of 0.700  0.01 at 734 nm for
2.1. Plant material longer stability (Özgen et al., 2006). For the spectrophotometric assay,
2.97 mL of the ABTS+ solution and 30 mL of fruit extract were mixed
As a result of a nationwide mulberry selection program, and incubated for 10 min. The absorbance at 734 nm was then
anthocyanin-rich superior mulberry species of M. nigra (14 determined.
accessions) and M. rubra (four accessions) were sampled from
across Turkey. Origin, location and genetic relationship of 2.2.4. Extraction of individual sugars and organic acids
accessions were given in Kafkas et al. (2008). Fully mature fruits Mulberry slurries (5 g) were diluted with purified water or
were harvested by hand and transferred to the laboratory for meta-phosphoric acid (2.5%) solution for individual sugar and
physical and phytochemical analysis. The fruit color was measured organic acid analysis, respectively. The homogenate was centri-
using a Minolta portable chromameter (Minolta, Model CR-400) fuged at 6000 rpm for 5 min. Supernatants were filtered through a
which provided CIE L*, a* and b* values. Samples were frozen 0.45 mm membrane filter (Iwaki Glass) before HPLC analysis, and
immediately and then stored in about 100 g batches at 30 8C prior the mobile-phase solvents were degassed before use. All the
to analysis. For each fruit sample, three replicates were thawed at samples and standards were injected three times each, and mean
room temperature and homogenized in a standard food blender; values were used.
excess fruits (40–60 individual fruits) were used to minimize The HPLC analyses were conducted using a PerkinElmer HPLC
naturally occurring fruit-to-fruit variation. Slurries were assayed system with Totalchrom navigator 6.2.1 software, a pump and UV
for TA using standard methodology. detector (PerkinElmer, Series-200) (Waltham, Massachusetts,
USA). Separation and determination of organic acids was done
2.2. Analytical procedures using a modified protocol from Shui and Leong (2002). The
separation was performed with a SGE wakosil C18RS 5 mm column
2.2.1. Determination of total phenolic (TP) (250 mm  4.6 mm i.d.). Optimum efficiency of separation was
TP content was measured according to the Singleton and Rossi obtained using a sulfuric acid solution with a pH of 2.5 (solvent A),
(1965) procedure. Briefly, fruit slurries were extracted with buffer and methanol (solvent B). Other parameters were adopted as
containing acetone, water, and acetic acid (70:29.5:0.5, v/v/v) for follows: injection volume, 20 mL; column temperature, 30 8C; and
1 h in darkness. Samples were replicated three times. Then, detection wavelength, 215 nm.
extracts were combined with Folin-Ciocalteu’s phenol reagent and Analysis of sugars was performed according to the method
water, and incubated for 8 min followed by the addition of 7% described by Bartolome et al. (1995) using a refractive index (RI)
sodium carbonate. After 2 h, the absorbance at 750 nm was detector (PerkinElmer). The separation was carried out on a SGE SS
measured by an automated UV–vis spectrophotometer (Model Exsil amino column (250 mm  4.6 mm i.d.). The elution solvent
T60U, PG Instruments). Gallic acid was used as standard. The used contained 80% acetonitrile and 20% deionized water. The
results were expressed as mg GAE/g fw. column was operated at 30 8C with 0.9 mL/min flow rate. Sample
injection volume was 20 mL. Three replicates were used.
2.2.2. Total monomeric anthocyanins (TMA)
TMA were estimated by a pH differential method (Giusti and 2.3. Statistical analysis
Wrolstad, 2005) using a UV–vis spectrophotometer (Model T60U,
PG Instruments). Absorbance was measured at 533 and 700 nm in Data were analyzed using SAS software and procedures (SAS,
buffers at pH 1.0 and 4.5 using A = (A535–A700)pH1.0  (A535– 2005). Means and standard deviations were calculated using the
A700)pH4.5 with a molar extinction coefficient of 29,600. Results TABULATE procedure. Calculations of analysis of variance tables
were expressed as mg of cyanidin-3-glucoside equivalent in g fresh were not statistically valid as the fruits of the wild accessions were
weight (mg cy-3-glu/g fw) basis. not sampled from a common environment with an experimental
design. To evaluate variation between accessions for variables
2.2.3. The total antioxidant activity (TAC) tests, coefficient of variations (C.V.) were calculated and expressed
TAC was estimated by using two standard procedures, the FRAP as percentages. Correlation coefficients and their levels of
and TEAC assays, as suggested by Özgen et al. (2006). significance were calculated using the CORR procedure; separate
analyses were conducted for each species.
2.2.3.1. The ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP). FRAP was
determined according to the method of Benzie and Strain 3. Results and discussion
(1996). The assay was conducted using three aqueous stock
solutions containing 0.1 mol/L acetate buffer (pH 3.6), 10 mmol/L Among the mulberries investigated in this study, black
TPTZ [2,4,6-tris(2-pyridyl)-1,3,5-triazine] acidified with concen- mulberry had the greatest averages of TP, TMA and TAC
trated hydrochloric acid, and 20 mmol/L ferric chloride. These (Table 1). TP content averaged 2485 mg GAE/g fw, and several
solutions were prepared and stored in the dark under refrigera- accessions had contents higher than 3000 mg GAE/g fw (N24, N35,
tion. Stock solutions were combined (10:1:1, v/v/v) to form the N49, N60 and N68). On average, the M. rubra group had 42% less TP
FRAP reagent just prior to analysis. For each assay, laboratory content than M. nigra. Similar patterns were observed for TMA. M.
duplicates from each replicate plus 2.97 mL of FRAP reagent and nigra had a mean of 571 mg/g fw. The range of TMA was 253–
30 mL of sample extract were mixed. After 30 min the absorbance 830 mg cy-3-glu/g fw. Moreover, M. nigra fruits had the highest
 M. Özgen et al. / Scientia Horticulturae 119 (2009) 275–279 277

Table 1
Total phenolic content (TP), anthocyanin (TMA), antioxidant capacity (TEAC and FRAP) and titratable acidity (TA) of mulberry fruits sampled from Turkey

Accession TP (mg GAE/g fw) TMA (mg cy-3-glu/g fw) TEAC (mmol TE/g fw) FRAP (mmol TE/g fw) TA (g/100 mL)

Morus nigra (black mulberry)

N9 2530  55 584  29 13.1  0.4 14.0  0.7 2.11  0.01
N21 2397  92 522  17 10.9  0.2 12.2  0.3 2.04  0.02
N22 2824  34 641  33 12.2  0.3 11.1  0.1 2.25  0.02
N24 3135  117 701  52 13.0  0.4 16.9  0.4 2.41  0.00
N35 3121  140 815  11 14.4  0.2 16.1  2.4 2.88  0.02
N44 2597  124 398  16 10.0  0.4 12.3  0.6 1.83  0.11
N45 1908  63 253  28 6.9  0.4 7.3  0.4 2.24  0.01
N49 3488  133 689  18 13.1  0.2 14.6  0.6 1.59  0.00
N54 2727  126 356  9 6.8  0.5 10.8  0.3 1.74  0.00
N60 3160  102 480  39 11.4  0.4 13.2  0.3 2.13  0.01
N62 2683  72 674  37 13.0  0.3 14.7  0.3 2.04  0.01
N63 2963  119 739  103 13.6  0.4 16.4  0.5 1.62  0.11
N68 3013  67 830  34 12.3  0.3 11.7  0.4 2.10  0.03
N76 1766  100 308  22 8.7  0.9 9.9  0.5 2.10  0.03
Mean 2737  480 571  23 11.4  2.4 12.9  2.7 2.08  0.33

Morus rubra (red mulberry)

R2 1586  102 120  7 7.3  0.3 7.7  1.2 1.04  0.00
R6 1433  38 72  4 6.7  0.6 7.6  0.2 0.36  0.00
R7 1005  87 31 5.1  1.6 3.7  0.2 0.70  0.02
R8 2388  87 200  5 7.1  0.2 6.7  1.1 1.01  0.01
Mean 1603  578 98.8  2 6.6  0.6 6.4  0.5 0.78  0.32

Overall
Mean 2485 486 10.5 12.0 1.79
S.D. 671 250 2.9 3.6 0.62
C.V. (%) 27 51 28 30 35

The accessions belong to M. nigra (N) and M. rubra (R). Values represent mean  S.D. calculated from three replicates.

TAC, with an average of 11.4 and the range of 6.8–14.4 mmol TE/g amounts of TP, but higher anthocyanin contents in unspecified
fw by the TEAC method. The mean of M. rubra was about half of M. species of mulberries. Ercisli and Orhan (2008) found moderate
nigra while M. rubra accessions had even less activity as antioxidant activity in selected black mulberries using a different
determined by TEAC. Similar patterns were observed for FRAP antioxidant method.
and TA. M. nigra had higher averages than M. rubra for both FRAP We observed considerable variation between the mulberry
and TA. Similar to our results, Bae and Suh (2007) found similar species for most of the traits tested. The external fruit color
characteristics are presented in Table 2. The L* values of the M.
nigra group ranged from 14.4 to 27.9 with an average of 18.4. M.
Table 2 rubra accessions were less variable as they ranged from 11 to 14.2.
Several fruit color characteristics of mulberry fruits sampled from Turkey
a* and b* values had even greater variability than L* values when
Accession L* a* b* Chroma Hue8 compared by their C.V. values (60 and 69% to 30%, respectively).
Morus nigra (black mulberry) The highest a* and b* values obtained from M. nigra fruits were 18.3
N9 16.1  1.5 17.2  0.7 4.4  2.0 17.8  2.7 14.3  0.4
N21 17.9  2.6 18.5  1.1 6.0  1.7 19.4  3.1 18.1  0.7 Table 3
N22 22.9  1.1 25.1  0.2 8.2  1.2 26.4  0.9 18.0  0.6 Correlation coefficients (r) of total phenolics (TP), total anthocyanin (TMA),
N24 16.2  0.9 13.7  0.6 3.2  1.7 14.1  1.7 13.3  1.0 antioxidant capacity (FRAP and TEAC), and titratable acidity (TA) as a maturity
N35 14.4  1.9 18.0  0.5 4.6  1.5 18.6  1.1 14.5  0.7 indicator
N44 16.3  1.0 13.0  0.2 3.2  1.5 13.3  0.7 13.7  0.3
N45 19.4  2.3 17.6  0.4 4.7  1.6 18.2  1.5 14.8  0.5 Variable TMAa TEACb FRAPc TA
N49 14.9  2.3 10.2  0.4 2.6  2.5 10.6  1.4 14.0  0.6 TP d
0.70**
0.64 **
0.68** 0.04
N54 18.5  2.0 14.4  0.5 4.8  2.1 15.1  1.1 18.5  0.7 0.99** 0.56 0.97** 0.53
N60 15.4  1.7 15.8  0.9 5.4  1.3 16.7  2.0 18.8  1.2
N62 17.1  2.6 16.0  0.4 4.8  2.2 16.7  2.9 16.6  1.5 TMA 0.89** 0.72** 0.20
N63 15.1  2.6 20.5  0.9 6.0  3.9 21.3  3.1 16.3  0.6 0.62 0.99** 0.61
N68 27.9  1.5 31.0  1.1 11.6  2.0 33.1  2.6 20.6  0.4
N76 25.9  3.1 25.0  0.9 8.1  0.8 26.3  2.8 18.0  0.4 TEAC 0.81** 0.23
Mean 18.4  1.9 18.3  1.9 5.5  0.6 19.1  2.0 16.4  0.7 0.59 0.15

FRAP 0.08
Morus rubra (red mulberry)
0.99**
R2 14.2  1.0 1.4  0.4 0.2  5.7 1.5  0.3 9.6  11.4
R6 13.3  1.8 1.7  0.3 0.3  5.2 1.7  0.6 15.9  7.3 The first value represents r for M. nigra accessions while the second represents r for
R7 11.1  5.3 5.5  0.1 0.2  4.9 5.5  4.6 1.9  1.6 M. rubra accessions.
R8 13.5  0.9 1.5  0.4 0.5  5.3 1.6  0.5 19.0  11.9 a
TMA were determined by the pH-differential method of Giusti and Wrolstad
Mean 13.0  2.2 2.5  1.5 0.2  0.3 2.6  1.5 11.6  5.0 (2005). Values are expressed as mg cy-3-glu/g fw.
b
Overall TEAC values were determined by the method of Özgen et al. (2006). Values are
Mean 17.9 14.2 4.5 15.1 35.5 expressed as mmol TE/g fw.
c
S.D. 5.4 8.5 3.1 8.7 76.0 FRAP values were determined by the method of Benzie and Strain (1996).
C.V. (%) 30 60 69 58 214 Values are expressed as mmol of TE/g fw.
d
TP contents were estimated by the Folin-Ciocalteu assay of Singleton and Rossi
The accessions belong to M. nigra (N) and M. rubra (R). The values shown are (1965). Values are expressed as mg GAE/g fw.
**
mean  S.D. from 10 replications. Significance at 5%.
278 M. Özgen et al. / Scientia Horticulturae 119 (2009) 275–279

Table 4
Mean individual sugar and organic acid contents (g/100 mL) of mulberry fruits sampled from Turkey

Accession Sugar Organic acid

Fructose Glucose Sucrose Total Malic acid Ascorbic acid Citric acid Total

Morus nigra (black mulberry)

N9 5.85  0.06 7.03  0.01 0.01  0.00 12.9  0.1 0.15  0.01 0.004  0.00 1.96  0.00 2.11  0.01
N21 6.06  0.01 6.73  0.04 0.05  0.01 12.8  0.5 0.15  0.02 0.003  0.00 1.88  0.00 2.04  0.02
N22 6.40  0.09 7.12  0.05 0.05  0.01 13.6  0.1 0.17  0.02 0.004  0.00 2.08  0.00 2.25  0.02
N24 6.14  0.03 6.63  0.02 0.04  0.00 12.8  0.5 0.16  0.00 0.003  0.00 2.25  0.00 2.41  0.00
N35 5.58  0.02 6.15  0.02 0.01  0.00 11.7  0.1 0.19  0.01 0.005  0.00 2.68  0.00 2.88  0.01
N44 6.41  0.17 6.62  0.12 0.03  0.01 13.1  0.2 0.23  0.02 0.008  0.00 1.60  0.09 1.83  0.11
N45 5.22  0.03 5.62  0.03 0.03  0.00 10.9  0.1 0.21  0.02 0.010  0.00 1.77  0.00 1.99  0.06
N49 5.80  0.04 6.56  0.08 0.07  0.03 12.4  0.1 0.14  0.00 0.007  0.00 1.45  0.00 1.59  0.00
N54 5.12  0.11 5.77  0.11 0.02  0.01 10.9  0.1 0.11  0.00 0.006  0.00 1.63  0.00 1.74  0.00
N60 4.86  0.02 5.50  0.04 0.04  0.02 10.4  0.1 0.10  0.00 0.004  0.00 2.03  0.00 2.13  0.01
N62 6.26  0.04 6.96  0.01 0.01  0.00 13.2  0.1 0.17  0.00 0.004  0.00 1.87  0.00 2.04  0.01
N63 – – – – 0.14  0.01 0.006  0.00 1.48  0.09 1.62  0.11
N68 5.22  0.03 5.87  0.08 0.02  0.01 11.1  0.1 0.16  0.01 0.004  0.00 1.93  0.02 2.10  0.03
N76 5.56  0.30 5.89  0.28 0.03  0.00 11.5  0.5 0.16  0.01 0.004  0.00 1.93  0.02 2.10  0.03
Mean 5.77  0.51 6.39  0.57 0.03  0.02 12.2  1.1 0.16  0.04 0.005  0.00 1.87  0.33 2.05  0.33

Morus rubra (red mulberry)

R2 4.43  0.05 4.96  0.03 0.10  0.06 9.5  0.1 0.13  0.03 0.003  0.00 0.91  0.00 1.04  0.03
R6 2.77  0.06 2.85  0.03 0.05  0.00 5.7  0.1 0.13  0.00 0.004  0.00 0.23  0.00 0.36  0.00
R7 4.66  0.06 4.84  0.06 0.04  0.01 9.5  0.1 0.30  0.02 0.004  0.00 0.39  0.00 0.70  0.02
R8 3.25  0.04 3.63  0.05 0.05  0.02 6.9  0.1 0.17  0.02 0.005  0.00 0.83  0.00 1.01  0.02
Mean 3.78  0.91 4.07  1.01 0.06  0.03 7.9  1.9 0.18  0.08 0.004  0.00 0.59  0.33 0.78  0.32

Overall
Mean 5.27 5.81 0.04 11.12 0.16 0.00 1.60 1.76
S.D. 1.02 1.17 0.03 2.17 0.05 0.00 0.65 0.64
C.V. (%) 19 20 73 20 29 27 40 36

The accessions belong to M. nigra (N) and M. rubra (R). Values represent mean  S.D. calculated from three replicates.

and 5.5, respectively, while N68 had the highest a* and b* among 4. Conclusion
the black mulberries. High a* and b* values were indicated by their
dark red color. These average values were smaller in M. rubra (2.5 In this study, we compared and characterized the phytonu-
and 0.2. A similar pattern was observed with C* values and hue8. trient content and antioxidant capacity of selected anthocyanin-
Earlier studies of small fruit phytonutrient contents reported rich mulberries, and determined the strength of the relationships
high correlations among TP, TMA and TAC as determined by the among commonly measured variables. Red and black mulberry
TEAC and FRAP assays (Özgen et al., 2007, 2008). In our study, the species displayed different characteristics. In addition to high
correlation coefficient, r, among TP, TMA, TEAC and FRAP was also antioxidant capacity black mulberry had high anthocyanin and
high, and all pair-wise combinations were found to be significant at phenolic contents, which may increase its popularity among the
5% for M. nigra accessions (Table 3). However, none of the other other mulberries or even among other fruits in general. These
variables were significantly correlated to TA for M. nigra. results, demonstrating superior horticultural and phytonutrient
Conversely, for M. rubra accessions, TA was found to be highly traits of mulberries, may also provide a basis for planning
correlated to FRAP. The correlations of TEAC to TP, TEAC and FRAP breeding strategies as well as selecting cultivars with high
were not significant. This is probably caused by the relatively low phytonutrient profiles and antioxidant capacities as functional
number of accessions for this species. foods for consumers. However, more detailed biological and
Individual sugars and organic acid contents of mulberries are pharmacological studies are still needed for additional clarifica-
presented in Table 4. Sugar compositions of the accessions were tion and better understanding of the heath benefits of anthocya-
similar regardless of the species. The main sugar was glucose nin-rich mulberries.
(about 52%) followed by fructose (about 48%). Sucrose was
detected in some accessions; however, it only reached 1% of total
sugars in a few accessions. The average sugar contents of M. nigra Acknowledgments
and M. rubra were 12.2 and 7.9%, respectively. The main organic
acids for the mulberries were citric and malic acids. Tartaric (not This study was supported by The Scientific and Technological
shown in the table) and ascorbic acid were detected in trace Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) (project No.: TOVAG-
amounts, where the highest amount obtained was from N45 at 106O102); we greatly acknowledge the financial support. Also, we
about 0.01 g/100 mL. Both the amounts and compositions of the would like to thank all the project personals for guiding us and
organic acids were found to be variable for the species tested. collecting these valuable materials.
The organic acid compositions were similar within M. nigra and
M. rubra accessions, but different between the species. For M. nigra References
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