International Journal of Plant Production 3 (3), July 2009 ISSN: 1735-6814 (Print), 1735-8043 (Online) This is a refereed journal and all articles are professionally screened and reviewed. SHORT COMMUNICATION GUASNR www.ijpp.info Physico-chemical characteristics of wild plum fruits (Prunus spinosa L.) Y. Erturk a , S. Ercisli b,* , M. Tosun c a Hamza Polat Vocational School, Ataturk University, 25900 Ispir, Turkey b Department of Horticulture, Ataturk University, 25240 Erzurum, Turkey c Oltu Vacational School, Ataturk University, 25800 Oltu, Turkey * corresponding author; Email: sercisli@hotmail.com Received 16 December 2008; Accepted after revision 19 May 2009; Published online 10 July Abstract The genotypic variation on physico-chemical characteristics of wild grown plums (Prunus spinosa L.) was investigated. The total phenolic contents were in a range of 117 to 407 mg GAE/100 g FW. The vitamin C was highest in yellow colored fruits (12.10 mg/100 ml). The total soluble solid content varied between 9.40% (yellow colored) and 12.90% (dark purple colored) fruits. Antioxidant activity of dark purple, red and yellow skin colored plum fruits were found between 71.15-78.99% which lowers than standard BHA (82.07%). Keywords: Antioxidant activity; Chemical composition; Plums; Total phenolics Introduction Plant characteristics of plum species naturally grown in Turkey are very diverse. Northeast part of Turkey; in particular Coruh valley has notable populations of dark purple, red and yellow skin color-fruited wild grown plums. The fruit sometimes are only 20 mm in size and highly astringent. Local people are living in this region mostly using wild edible fruits, including wild plums as a source of food and medicine for thousands of years (Ercisli, 2004). According to literature searched, there have been studies on chemical composition of cultivated plums (Bilgu and Seferoglu, 2005). However, no comparative studies have been done on wild-growing plums. Therefore, in the present study an attempt has been made to know the variability in physico-chemical characteristics of dark purple, red and yellow color-fruited plum genotypes belongs to Prunus spinosa. Materials and Methods Wild-growing plum fruits were harvested from genotypes (Prunus spinosa L.) from Coruh Valley in Turkey in 2006 and 2007. Fifty fruits from each genotype were used for