STRUCTURE AND SOME BIOCHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF QUINCE FRUITS (CYDONIA OBLONGA MILL.) FOR BREEDING CULTIVATED IN THE CONDITIONS OF THE MOSCOW REGION

Abstract

In accordance with the policy of the Russian Federation, which, on the one side, is aimed at maintaining health and increasing the life expectancy of the country's population, and, on the other side, at import substitution, the maximum use of the food potential of domestic plants is required. One such plant is the quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.). The range of wild quince is concentrated only on the Western and Southern coasts of the Caspian Sea. The aim of this work is to study the fruits of quince, cultivated in the conditions of the Moscow region and establishing the possibility of using it in breeding. The structure, morphometric and biochemical characteristics of quinces fruits, growing in the Moscow region, have been studied. It is shown that quince fruit well in the conditions of the Moscow region. Quinces fruits, ripen in the conditions of the Moscow region, have a typical morphologo-anatomical structure, the content of absolutely dry matter comparable with cultural forms, as well as a high content of ascorbic acid. The increased content of ascorbic acid in the fruits of quince plants, resistant to the conditions of the Moscow region, allows us to recommend them for use in breeding, to obtain high-vitamin cultivars. Nutritional use of fruits of quince can be non-waste, because both pericarp and seeds are rich in biologically active substances; there is a possibility of additional extraction of oils from oilcake after using the fruit pulp. Under the conditions of import substitution, the competitiveness and economic benefits from the use in the food industry of significantly smaller fruits of the quince, introduced in the northern regions, compared to imported fruits have been presuppose.