Determination of physical, chemical and antimicrobial properties of wild blackthorn (Prunus spinosa L.) fruits

In this study, the physical, chemical, and antimicrobial properties of the fruit of Prunus spinosa L. mentioned by local names such as Çakal eriği which is widely grown wild in nature, kuş eriği, gövem, güvem. Samples were collected from the Zonguldak Sipahiler and Göldağı-Taşcılı regions at different altitudes in the Western Black Sea Region, and from the Ulus region in Bartın forest clearing areas in September-November 2021. In the study, characteristics such as fruit width, height, weight, diameter and kernel weight were examined in terms of physical properties. The average measurements of blackthon fruits collected from three regions are as follows: fruit length (mm) 13,3, fruit width (mm) 13,0, fruit weight (g) 1,49, fruit volume (cm3) was found to be 1,38. In addition, the fruit density (g/cm3) was found to be 1,08. The shape index was calculated as 1,03 and the fruit was found to be round. In the simultaneous measurements made to the cores, the average core length of the three regions (mm) was measured as 8,99, the core height (mm) 5,41, core width (mm) 7,13, core weight (g) 0,19, core internal weight (g) 0,05. The percentage of the fruit pulp (%) was found to be 87,30. A positive significant correlation was found between fruit length, fruit width and fruit weight in the regions. When looked at the results of the variance analysis of Göldağı-Taşcılı region compared to other regions, it was seen that the elevation variable was important and there were significant differences between regions. It was believed that the high physical measurements of the Göldağı-Taşcılı region are due to the high altitude. In chemical analyses, the total amount of dry matter, the amount of moisture, the pH determination, the total acidity, the amount of water-soluble dry matter were determined. The average data of the material collected from the three regions were found to be total dry matter (%) 24,8, moisture content (%) 75,1, water soluble dry matter 16, ash content (%) 3,21, pH 3,46, titrable acidity (%) 2,32. Spearman correlation analysis and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) from the SPSS program were used for the evaluation of the data in order to determine the relationships between chemical analyses. The results were evaluated in a bidirectional manner at a p<0,05 level, within a 95% confidence interval. It has been detected that the chemical properties of the blackthorn fruits analyzed differ statistically. The biggest difference was observed in the ash amount and pH groups. When the regions are compared, Bartın-Ulus region stands out compared to other regions in terms of chemical properties. According to the Duncan test analysis, the most sour plums were detected in the samples taken from Göldağı-Taşcılı with a pH value of 3,37 In the last step of the study, the effectiveness of the pure extract of the blackthorn fruit aganist Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria was examined. Disk diffusion (inhibition zone) method was used as part of the antimicrobial analysis. When petri container containing samples were examined, it was observed that all samples formed an inhibition zone between 14-20 (mm). The highest inhibition zone aganist S. aureus bacterium was measured as 20 (mm) in the 'G' (Göldağı) sample. The highest inhibition zone against E. coli bacterium measured as 19 (mm) in the 'S' (Sipahiler) sample. When all the results were evaluated, it was understood that the pure extract of blackthorn fruit S. aureus and E. coli it has been understood that it shows antimicrobial properties against S. aureus and E. coli bacteria.