Myrtle South Shore

South Shore is a domestic variety of common myrtle obtained at the Nikita Botanical Garden by individual selection from a seed population. The shrub is evergreen, up to 1 m tall, and forms 16–18 first-order shoots. Leaves are lanceolate, leathery, dark green and shiny, 4.5–5 cm long; foliation degree is 55.9 %. The fruits are elongated, more than 13 mm long, and make up 7.5–10 % of the total harvest weight in above-ground plant mass.

Shoot cultivation of the variety ensures a higher leaf yield – 37 % higher than in perennial cultivation. Shoot formation intensity increases 2.6-fold, and iron content in leaves reaches 84.37 mg/kg (2.67 times more than in perennial cultivation). At the same time, copper concentration decreases by half. Magnesium and calcium maintain high levels, exceeding daily human needs by 3.3-fold. High manganese content (20.2 mg/kg) makes this variety unique compared to other perennial cultures on the southern coast of Crimea.

The essential oil mass fraction is 0.3–0.4 % of the raw leaf mass; the dominant component is myrtene acetate – up to 35 %. The essential oil has antimicrobial and phytoncid effects, improves digestion and is widely used in the perfume-cosmetic, pharmaceutical and food industries. The raw material is leaves collected in the third decade of November.

In the fruits of the 'South Shore' variety, a significant amount of phenolic compounds (660.4 mg/100 g dry weight) and anthocyanins (380.7 mg/100 g dry weight) accumulate. Among phenolic compounds, gallic acid prevails; among anthocyanins, malvidin-3-O-glucoside, delphinidin-3-O-glucoside and petunidin-3-O-glucoside. These biologically active substances give the fruits special value for the food and pharmaceutical industries.