Study of morphological and phytochemical characteristics of fruit in various populations of Dog Rose (Rosa canina L.) in Lorestan Province

Dog rose (Rosa canina L.) is one of the most valuable medicinal plants belonging to Rosaceae, which is distributed in different parts of Iran. In this study, the fruit of different populations of the species was collected from Khorramabad, Noorabad, Aleshtar, Dorud and Aligudarz cities of Lorestan province, and evaluated for morphological and phytochemical traits in a completely randomized design with six replications. The traits included the fresh weight of fruit, fresh and dry weight of flesh, seed weight per fruit, flesh width, the content of phenols and flavonoids, ascorbic acid content and oil percentage. The results of ANOVA indicated that all traits studied (except flesh width) were significantly affected by the region. According to the mean comparison results, Noorabad population had the highest amount of fruit dry weight (0.95 g), seed weight per fruit (1.11 g), fruit length (24.96 mm), flavonoids (22.18 and 16.29 µg routine/ mg dry extract, respectively in ethanolic and methanolic extracts) and phenols (50.81 and 25 µg gallic acid/ mg dry extract, respectively in ethanolic and methanolic extracts) content, and ascorbic acid (0.42) and oil (14.56) percentage. There was a positive and significant correlation between ascorbic acid and oil percentage with fruit dry weight and seed weight per fruit. Therefore, it can be concluded that the bigger fruits are probably more nutritious and more medicinal, and maybe, this correlation can be used for selective selection of superior dog rose ecotypes based on morphological traits. According to the results of the present research, Noorabad population can be recommended as the superior ecotype for future breeding programs of the species.