Biochemical and genetic characterization of a red fig cultivar (Ficus carica) from Southern Italy

Common fig (Ficus carica L.), widespread in many regions of Southern Italy, occurs with a high number of local cultivars, many of them not well catalogued due to unresolved synonymy and homonymy issues. In particular, fig 'Moscione di San Mango' is a traditional agro-food product of Irpinia (Avellino province, Italy) for which the DOP certification might be requested. Since this outstanding cultivar, with nutritional and sensory qualities, has not yet been studied, an accurate assessment should be done. In this study, fruits of 'Moscione di San Mango' showed high quantity of polyphenols and flavonoids, as well the antiradical power was evaluated by DPPH method. The main phenolic compounds were identified and quantified by HPLC analysis both in peel and in pulp: phenolic acids, e.g. gallic, chlorogenic and p-coumaric acids, and flavonoids, e.g. rutin, quercetin, (+)-catechin and (-)-epicatechin. The results of our study confirmed the nutritional and healthy features of syconium of this cultivar and demonstrated how this could be useful in human nutrition and wellness. At the same time, characterization of fig 'Moscione di San Mango' was achieved by means of molecular markers for determining its DNA fingerprint.