Influence of D and Rec strains of plum pox virus on phenolic profile and antioxidant capacity of fresh plum fruits of ‘Čačanska Lepotica’ cultivar

Aim of study: To investigate the changes in chemical composition of fresh plum fruits cv. ‘Čačanska Lepotica’ prompted by the presence of various strains of plum pox virus (PPV). Area of study: Serbia Material and methods: In an experimental orchard of ‘Čačanska Lepotica’ plum cultivar, fruits were picked from virus-free and PPV-infected trees (PPV-D and PPV-Rec strains) in four harvest stages in 2017 and 2018. Fruits were further analyzed on total phenolics, flavonoids, anthocyanins, antioxidant capacity and selected phenolics. Main results: The results indicate that virus infection causes chemical changes to a certain extent, but mostly in initial harvest stages, while the values are equal in later stages. In the last harvest stage, as the most utilizable in commercial purposes, only chlorogenic acid content was affected in 2017, while in 2018 contents of neochlorogenic acid and chrysanthemin were altered by the PPV infection. Total contents of flavonoids and phenolics revealed no influence of virus infection during both 2017 and 2018, while PPV-Rec infected samples were richer in anthocyanins under heavy rainfall during summer months of 2018. Given the number of identified compounds (10) and the vast experimental data, it might be concluded that influence of PPV infection on chemical composition of ‘Čačanska Lepotica’ plum fruits was quite limited. Research highlights: Plum cultivar ‘Čačanska Lepotica’ should be considered as highly tolerant cultivar to PPV, and can be grown in heavily infected environment with no risk. Therefore, it might be a great replacement for sensitive plum cultivars, such as ‘Požegača’ and ‘Čačanska Rodna’.