Sweet cherry competitive varieties for the horticulture of the Krasnodar Territory

Abstract

Creation of new varieties that combine a complex of valuable traits, incl. the marketability and quality of fruits for updating the assortment of sweet cherry is an urgent direction of breeding research. The paper presents the results of a long-term work on the assessment of 12 varieties of sweet cherries of domestic and foreign breeding according to the main parameters of marketability and quality of fruits. The studies were carried out in 2015–2020 on the basis of the «Tsentralnoye» experimental production farm of the North Caucasian Federal Scientific Center of Horticulture, Viticulture, Winemaking. As a result of regional breeding and long-term variety study sweet cherry varieties of local breeding (Alaya, Volshebnitsa, Chernie glaza) and introduced varieties (Anonce, Vasilisa, Kroupnoplodnaya, Sweet Heart, Skina) with larger fruits (fruit weight of 8.5–12.0 g) were identified. These varieties correspond to world marketability standards. Varieties with high biochemical parameters have been revealed: vitamin C (10.9–13.0 mg/100 g) Volshebnitsa, Podarok leta, Anonce; vitamin P (81.6–116.0 mg/100 g) Volshebnitsa, Podarok leta, Kroupnoplodnaya; anthocyanins (213.5–390.0 mg/100 g) Madonna, Chernie glaza; sugars (14.2–15.2 %) Alaya, Volshebnitsa, Podarok leta; soluble solids (19.8–22.8 %) Alaya and Volshebnitsa. A greatest variation in parameters (Cv = 60 %) was noted in the number of anthocyanins from 87.0 in the Volshebnitsa variety to 390.0 mg/100 g in the Madonna variety. At the same time, the supposed direct correlation between the ripening period and the accumulation of sugars (R2 = 0.083) and dry matter (R2 = 0.107) was not revealed, due primarily to the varietal specifics and year conditions. For modern technologies of the production of high-quality cherry products in the south of the country, domestic varieties Krasnaya devitsa, Volshebnitsa, Alaya, introduced varieties Anonce, Kroupnoplodnaya, Sweet Heart and Skina, stably bearing fruit under stress conditions, with a yield of 20.0 t/ha with a planting scheme 5.3 m, high marketable and taste qualities were suggested. Super early ripening cherry variety Madonna was recommended to expand the regional cherry conveyor.