Margarita Makarkina

Stone fruit crops are successfully cultivated in many regions of Russia. Their fruits contain a great diversity of biologically active and mineral substances. The stone fruit varietal collection of the All Russia Research Institute of Fruit Crop Breeding has been estimated on the content of biologically active substances (ascorbic acid and phenolic compounds) in fruits: 80 sour cherry varieties, 28 sweet cherry varieties, 29 plum varieties and 24 apricot varieties. High cultivar variability of the content of ascorbic acid and P-active sub-stances in fruits has been determined in each crop. The best genotypes have been singled out according to each biochemical component and a complex of characters.