Characterization and differentiation of botanical and geographical origin of selected popular sweet cherry cultivars grown in Greece

Four sweet cherry cultivars grown in northern Greece (Kordia, Regina, Skeena, Mpakirtzeika) were characterized and differentiated according to both botanical and geographical origin (Skeena cultivar). Conventional quality parameter analyses applied to achieve differentiation included: a) conventional quality parameters namely, titratable acidity (TA), pH and total soluble solids (TSS) measurement of mechanical properties-penetration, b) analysis of glucose and fructose (major sugars) using High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Refractive Index Detector (HPLC-RID), c) identification and semi-quantification of volatile compounds using Solid Phase Micro Extraction in combination with Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (SPME-GC/MS) and d) analysis of minerals using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Data were analysed using Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). Results showed that the combination of volatile compounds-conventional properties-minerals provided the highest correct prediction rate of 97.4% for botanical differentiation while for the geographical differentiation of the Skeena cultivar, conventional parameters and volatile compounds provided a 94.9% and 95.0% correct prediction rate respectively.