Five types of honey (multifloral, sunflower, linden, rapeseed, and acacia), from Southern Romania, were classified using chemometrics methods coupled with IR spectroscopy. The botanical origin’s effect on the physicochemical characteristics of honey was studied to highlight the most valuable plant source of honey. Except for antioxidant activity, the moisture, ash, electrical conductivity (EC), pH, free acidity (FA), total sugar content (TSC), hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), total phenolic (TPC), tannin (TTC), and flavonoid content (TFC) were significantly influenced by the botanical origin of the honey. The results showed that sunflower honey had the highest moisture (15.53%), free acidity (16.67 mEq kg⁻¹), electrical conductivity (483.92 µS cm⁻¹), phenolics (167.59 mg GAE 100 g⁻¹), and flavonoids (19.00 mg CE 100 g⁻¹), whereas multifloral honey presented the highest total sugar content (69.64 g Glu 100 g⁻¹). The highest HMF content was found in linden honey (33.94 mg kg⁻¹). The HMF contents of all tested honey were within the standard recommended limit, and they confirmed that the tested honey was free of any heat treatment. All five types of tested honey presented a safe moisture content for storage and consumption (12.21–18.74%). The honey′s free acidity was in the range of 4.00 to 25.00 mEq kg⁻¹; this indicated the freshness of the samples and the absence of any fermentation processes in the tested honey. Honey with a total sugar content over 60% (except for linden honey, with 58.05 g glucose 100 g⁻¹) showed the characteristic of nectar-derived honey. The elevated antioxidant activity of honey was correlated with its high moisture, flavonoids, and HMF, whereas the tannins and HMF were positively correlated with ash and electrical conductivity. The higher content of phenolics, flavonoids, and tannins was correlated with higher free acidity. The chemometric method, coupled with ATR-FTIR spectra, revealed a clear separation between linden honey from acacia, multifloral, and sunflower honey.

This work aimed to determine how factors such as genotype, environment, and location influence the variation of biochemical compounds constituting the nutraceutical profile of Rosa canina L. fruits for their future integration as a functional food in everyday life, in a region of Romania, where wild fruits have lost their popularity, along with globalization and the social evolution of the rural environment. For nine genotypes of Rosa canina L., the average values of moisture (35.81%), ash (2.55%), total sugar content (41.37 g glucose equivalents/100 g), polyphenols (1211.15 mg gallic acid equivalents/100 g), tannins (764.22 mg gallic acid equivalents/100 g), flavonoids (126 mg catechin equivalents/100 g), anthocyanins (18.64 mg cyanidin 3-glucoside equivalents/100 g), alkaloids (64.20 mg equivalents of atropine sulfate/100 g), antioxidant activity (91.97%), as well as the contents of vitamin C (1.97 g/100 g), lycopene (0.85 mg/100 g), and β-carotene (1.42 mg/100 g) were determined. The determining factor is the genotype, and there are significant variations in the contents of bioactive compounds, both between the three studied areas and between genotypes in the same area. The contents of compounds with nutraceutical value justifies the significant food potential of these wild fruits and their use as a natural medicine in prophylactic and preventive activity.

Diplocarpon rosae Wolf is the most common and damaging fungal pathogen in roses. Nationwide, the attack of this pathogenic fungus is very serious in most rose gardens due to rapid disease development that typically leads to leaf yellowing and defoliation. This study aimed to assess the way in which the fungus’s attack affects the chemical composition of Rosa sp. leaves. The research was conducted in the summer of 2023 on ten cultivars of rose grown in the rosary in the ‘Alexandru Buia’ Botanical Garden in Craiova. The influence of the cultivar and harvest time was discussed. Leaf black spot on roses produced by the fungus Diplocarpon rosae Wolf affected plants in all cultivars and the differences between cultivars highlighted the sensitivity of the relationship between plants and pathogens when exposed to some microclimatic environment factors. The correlations of attack degree with tannins, chlorophyll, or alkaloids were significant, negative for tannins (r = −0.189 *) and chlorophyll (r = −0.517 ***) and positive for alkaloids (r = 0.510 ***). Between phenolic compounds, tannins, flavonoids, and chlorophyll, very significant positive correlations were found. Alkaloids established negative and also very significant correlations with phenolic compounds (r = −0.403 ***), tannins (r = −0.339 ***), flavonoids (r = −0.409 ***), and chlorophyll (r = −0.604 ***).