Currently, significant attention centers on cultivating rare fruit crops with unique properties worldwide. The cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L.) is also popular for its abundant and stable yield. Industrial plantation of cultivated cornelian cherry remains limited globally, which restricts the ability to meet the growing demands of this valuable fruit. Therefore, studying the morphological and biochemical composition of its cultivated cultivars can be an important research task. The following research analyzes the morphological and biochemical traits of fruits of five cornelian cherry cultivars grown in the Tashkent Region, Uzbekistan, as well as the content of photosynthetic pigments in their leaves. The study recorded the cornelian cherry fruit mass up to 2.88 g, length (22.47 mm), and width (13.80 mm). In cornelian cherry fruits, the dry matter content reached 20.2%, pH is 3.18, and sugar level is 10.88%. Leaf chlorophyll content ranged from 8.55 to 9.34 mg/kg. The study also identified D. destructiva as the primary fungal pathogen affecting cornelian cherry under the growing conditions of Uzbekistan. Infection by D. destructiva resulted in losses of dry matter (6.27%), sugars (7.18%), macroelements (34.37–755.78 mg/kg), microelements (0.05–3.22 mg/kg), and reduction in chlorophyll a and b (0.9–1.4 and 1.0–1.81 mg/g, respectively).
Cornelian cherry (C. mas L.), morphological traits, biochemical analysis, macro- and microelements, chlorophylls (Chl-a and Chl-b), D. destructiva
The morphological and biochemical traits and chlorophyll content determination were successful in the cornelian cherry (C. mas L.). The results revealed that anthracnose disease caused by D. destructiva leads to a considerable reduction in biochemical traits of fruits and leaf pigments.