Evaluation of Morphological Traits, Phytochemical Composition, Biological Activities, and Molecular Docking Analysis of Phenolic Compounds from Cydonia oblonga Mill. Genotypes

Abstract

A statistical evaluation was done for the morphological traits of Cydonia oblonga Mill. genotypes, highlighting significant variations among them. Fruit weight exhibited a highly significant difference, ranging from 438 ± 107 g in genotype Q4 to 90.3 ± 10.5 g in Q3. Similarly, fruit width, fruit length, peel thickness, seed number, and Brix values showed statistically significant differences. Principal component analysis revealed that the first two principal components (PC1, PC2) explained 98.04% of the total variation, with fruit weight being the most influential trait. The highest 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) inhibition (97.2%) and total phenolic content (908.7 ± 25.0 mg GAE/mL) were observed in genotype Q4. The lowest minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values from antimicrobial tests were for Q4. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis revealed significant variations in vitamin, phenolic, and flavonoid contents, with genotype Q4 having the highest levels of gallic acid (9.97 µg/mL) and epicatechin (76.6 µg/mL). Molecular docking results further supported the potential biological activity of the identified compounds, with catechin demonstrating the strongest binding affinity against bacterial target proteins. These findings demonstrate significant morphological, biochemical, and antimicrobial differences among C. oblonga genotypes, especially the Q4 genotype, indicating their potential for food, and pharmaceutical applications.