Cherry production is limited to temperature regions that experience moderately cold winter temperatures as the cherry tree requires a dormancy period each year that begins with defoliation in the autumn.
Both sweet and sour cherries are good sources of vitamin C. According to National Cancer Institute in 2004; sweet cherry contains important amounts of carotenoids, mainly beta-carotene (38ug/100g) and lutein/zeaxanthin (85 ug/100 g).
Zeaxanthin is a constitutional isomer of lutein. Lutein is the dominant xanthophylls that are the primary human sources of carotenoids.
In sweet cherry, the main vitamins are vitamin C (7-50 mg/100g) followed by vitamin E (0.07 mg/100 g) and vitamin K (2 ug/100 g).
Vitamins content in sweet cherry
