Food and Biomass Potential of Prunus virginiana L. (Chokecherry)

Prunus virginiana L. (chokecherry) fruit has potential to provide both food and energy and as annual yield of biomass and energy are much greater than annual crops such as canola and wheat. We determined chokecherry fruit weight fractions as well as pit and extracted seed oil concentrations and fatty acid composition. Gross energy for each of the fractions was determined, as were carbon and nitrogen content. Extrapolation of these data suggests that gross energy from pits alone over a 24-year period (890 GJ·ha–1) is equivalent to that from an entire canola/wheat rotation (850 GJ·ha–1). After maturity, pulp contributes an additional 1130 GJ·ha–1 over 21 years from ∼3.4 t·ha–1·year–1 (dw), while wood from pruning could add another 60 GJ·ha–1·year–1. Over this time period, chokecherry would produce 1.5–2.5 times the amount of oil produced by a canola/wheat rotation.