The exploitation of cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L.) cultivars and genotypes from Montenegro as a source of natural bioactive compounds

[Display omitted] •Cornelian cherry genotypes and cultivars from Montenegro were characterized.•CC fruits have high contents of biologically active iridoids and anthocyanins and valuable antioxidative properties.•Local genotypes and cultivars have higher contents of biologically active compounds.•Cornelian cherry fruits have high potential as natural antioxidants, colorants and organic food ingredients. Cornelian cherry (CC) fruits a source of bioactive compounds that are still being underutilized. In this study, a comprehensive characterization of 11 Montenegrin CC local or introduced genotypes and cultivars collected in the wild or from organic orchards is provided. Their potential utilizations as natural antioxidants, colorants and organic food ingredients were exploited. CC fruits had high level of vitamin C (48–108 mg/100 g), malic acid (104–375 mg/100 g), and total polyphenols (158-591mgGAE/100 g). They also displayed high antioxidant activity based on DPPH (623–1903µmolTE/100 g), ABTS (441–1475µmolTE/100 g), and FRAP (1509–5954µmolFe2+/100 g) assays. UHPLC-PDA-HESI-MS/MS analyses were used to quantify the concentration of phenolic acids (7.69–19.87 mg/100 g), flavonoids (10.87–44.34 mg/100 g), anthocyanins (11.85–195.43 mg/100 g) and iridoids (129.07–341.20 mg/100 g). For each of this groups, the most abundant were caftaric acid (12.24 mg/100 g), quercetin 3-glucuronide (29.66 mg/100 g), cyanidin 3-O-galactoside (130.93 mg/100 g) and loganic acid (303.3 mg/100 g), respectively. PCA and cluster heatmap analysis highlighted potentials for further exploitation of local genotypes and cultivars through organic food processing and breeding program.