Using Preliminary Consumer Insight to Enhance the Perceived Quality of a New Apple Cultivar (Malus domestica Borkh. Cv. ANABP 01) with a View to Maximizing Crop Utilisation

Aromatic volatile compounds are important contributors to fruit quality that vary among different cultivars. Herein, headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to determine changes in volatile compounds and related gene expression patterns in “Ruixue” and “Fuji” apples (Malus domestica Borkh.) during fruit development and maturation. Volatile compounds detected in the fruit of both cultivars exhibited similar trends across different developmental stages. In the early stages of “Ruixue” fruit development (60 days after full bloom), there were fewer volatile compounds, mainly aldehydes (87.0%). During fruit maturation (180 days after full bloom), the types and amounts of volatile compounds increased, mainly including esters (37.6%), and alkenes (23.2%). The total volatile concentration, the types of major volatile compounds, and their relative content in both cultivars varied across different stages. Gene expression analysis indicated that the upregulation of MdLOX, MdAAT2, and MdADH3 was associated with increased aroma compound content, especially esters, during fruit development in both cultivars. Changes in the expression of MdArAT, MdACPD, MdADH3, MdAAT2, and MdLOX may lead to differences in volatile compounds between apple cultivars.

Anthocyanins are water-soluble pigments responsible for red, pink, purple or blue coloration in the flesh and/or skin of apple fruit. Since consumers prefer anthocyanin rich fruits due to their health benefits, anthocyanin content is an important trait for marketability of apples. Synthesis and accumulation of anthocyanins are controlled by environmental and genetic factors such as transcription factors (TFs). Two-repeat (R2R3) MYB TFs are involved in the regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis in plants. In this study, the expression of the MdMYBA and MdMYB3 genes encoding R2R3 type MYB TFs were analyzed in apple cultivars with fruit skin color from green to dark red at different growth stages. Fruit samples were collected from “Scarlet Spur”, “Galaxy Gala”, Golden Delicious” “Granny Smith” apple cultivars with dark red, light red, yellow and green fruits, respectively, at four different time periods after full-bloom. Total RNA was isolated from the peel of the collected fruits and the expression of the MdMYBA and MdMYB3 genes was analyzed by real-time RT-PCR. The expression of the MdMYBA gene started to increase at 92 DAFB and thereafter in red-skin apples; however, no expression was observed at any time points in yellow or green-skin apple cultivars. On the other hand, the MdMYB3 gene was expressed in red-skin and yellow-skin apple cultivars starting at 55 DAFB, but no expression was observed in green apple cultivar at any time of fruit maturation. The expression levels of the MdMYBA and MdMYB3 genes varied in apple fruits with different skin coloration indicating that they play a role regulation of the anthocyanin biosynthesis in apple cultivars during fruit maturation.

Non-Destructive Evaluation of Apple Fruit Maturity on the Tree The evaluation of apple fruit maturity (Malus domestica Borkh.) is based on destructive analyses, analysing starch conversion, fruit flesh firmness and Brix value. Specific threshold values exist for each cultivar and according to post-harvest treatment and storage. A rapid non-destructive method to evaluate the fruit maturity could be very important to obtain more reliable results. Since miniaturised spectrometer modules were available, visible/near infrared spectroscopy has been used to build up portable spectrometer equipment. Measurements were carried in weekly intervals on three cultivars in a commercial orchard in 2003 to 2005 during the period from August to October. The fruit maturity stage was described by two non-destructive spectral indices i) the chlorophyll decrease and ii) the anthocyanins increase. Both indices demonstrated the high variability of fruit maturity stage in orchard. The characteristics of several apple cultivars could be used to evaluate the actual differences in maturity stage. The spectral indices pointed out the influence of fruit yield and of temperature on the fruit maturity.

This study was conducted with the aim of developing fruit spirits by utilizing old (autochthonous) apple and pear cultivars that can be attractive to both consumers and producers. Consumers of spirits could enjoy the unique flavor, and producers could gain an opportunity for brand development. In total, eight old apple cultivars (Sarija, Žuja, Samoniklica, Prijedorska zelenika, Bobovec, Masnjača, Lijepocvjetka, and Šarenika) and three pear cultivars (Budaljača, Krakača, and Kalićanka) from Bosnia and Herzegovina were used for the spirits production and for characterizing the flavor of distillates. Golden Delicious was used as a representative of commercial apple cultivar. The aroma profile was conducted through the identification of minor volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and the sensory perception of spirits. Analysis of the VOCs was performed by gas chromatography mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) techniques after enrichment via solid-phase microextraction (SPME). Sensory evaluation was performed by 12 trained panelists. Overall, 35 minor volatile compounds were found in spirits: 13 esters, 7 alcohols, 6 acids, 5 terpenes, and 4 aldehydes. Significant differences were detected in the distribution and quantity of the VOCs, which were fruit cultivar-dependent. Spirits made from Šarenika apple cultivar showed the largest amount of all acids, especially short- and medium-chain fatty acids; however, this richness was not correlated with pleasant sensory attributes. Spirits obtained from Prijedorska zelenika and Masnjača apple cultivars had the best sensory attributes. Budeljača and Krakača pears are promising cultivars as flavoring in spirits production.

Effects of 1-aminoethoxyvinylglycine hydrochloride (AVG or Aviglycine HCl or ReTain) and αnaphthalene acetic acid (NAA) on fruit retention, fruit quality, eveloved ethylene, and respiration in ‘Rome Beauty’ and three ‘Delicious’ apple cultivars (Malus domestica Borkh.) were studied. The experimental trees were treated with either AVG, applied at 120 g a.i. per 935 L . ha -1 or NAA, applied at the rate of 10 ppm at 1870 L . ha -1 . The AVG treatment was applied four weeks before anticipated harvest date while the NAA treatment was applied 7 days before harvest. In both 'Delicious' and 'Rome' apples, application of AVG maintained fruit retention and firmness but reduced starch hydrolysis, ethylene evolution, and respiration as compared to the NAA treatment. In the later harvests, fruit weights in NAA-treated trees were slightly higher than those treated with AVG. Fruit retention, maturity and quality differences between AVG and NAA treatments were more pronounced as the time past from the commercial harvest dates. Based on this study, application of AVG is more effective than NAA in preventing fruit drop and delaying fruit maturity and thus storage life of apples.

The accurate identification and codification of phenological growth stages are essential for optimizing management practices in apple orchards. This study presents a detailed phenological characterization of the 'Kanzi' apple cultivar (Malus domestica Borkh.), using the BBCH (Biologische Bundesanstalt, Bundessortenamt and Chemical industry) scale. Observations were conducted over two annual growing seasons (2022-2023) in a temperate-climate orchard, monitoring the cultivar’s development from bud dormancy through fruit maturity and post-harvest senescence. Each principal and secondary growth stage was recorded and described with photographic and morphological references, emphasizing cultivar-specific traits such as delayed bud break, condensed flowering period, and firm fruit development. Results showed that 'Kanzi' exhibits unique timing and morphological markers within certain BBCH stages, particularly in flowering (stage 60–69) and fruit development (stage 70–89), when compared to standard cultivars. This codification provides a standardized framework to support research, crop modeling, and precision horticulture practices applied to 'Kanzi' apples.

The innovation of germplasm resources and the continuous breeding of new varieties of apples (Malus domestica Borkh.) have yielded more than 8000 apple cultivars. The ability to identify apple cultivars with ease and accuracy can solve problems in apple breeding related to property rights protection to promote the healthy development of the global apple industry. However, the existing methods are inconsistent and time-consuming. This paper proposes an efficient and convenient method for the classification of apple cultivars using a deep convolutional neural network with leaf image input, which is the delicate symmetry of a human brain learning. The model was constructed using the TensorFlow framework and trained on a dataset of 12,435 leaf images for the identification of 14 apple cultivars. The proposed method achieved an overall accuracy of 0.9711 and could successfully avoid the over-fitting problem. Tests on an unknown independent testing set resulted in a mean accuracy, mean error, and variance of μ a c c = 0.9685 , μ ε = 0.0315 , and σ 2 = 1.89025 E − 4 , respectively, indicating that the generalization accuracy and stability of the model were very good. Finally, the classification performance for each cultivar was tested. The results show that model had an accuracy of 1.0000 for Ace, Hongrouyouxi, Jazz, and Honey Crisp cultivars, and only one leaf was incorrectly identified for 2001, Ada Red, Jonagold, and Gold Spur cultivars, with accuracies of 0.9787, 0.9800, 0.9773, and 0.9737, respectively. Jingning1 and Pinova cultivars were classified with the lowest accuracies, with 0.8780 and 0.8864, respectively. The results also show that the genetic relationship between cultivars Shoufu 3 and Yanfu 3 is very high, which is mainly because they were both selected from a red mutation of Fuji and bred in Yantai City, Shandong Province, China. Generally, this study indicates that the proposed deep learning model is a novel and improved solution for apple cultivar identification, with high generalization accuracy, stable convergence, and high specificity.

The oldest mentioned gardens in Lithuania are from the Middle Ages. However, the oldest lists of fruit tree cultivars were compiled only in the 19th century. The article presents systematised information on apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) cultivars recommended for cultivation and cultivated in Lithuania from 1820 to 1914. A total of 22 written sources in Polish, Russian and Lithuanian from the period that mention specific apple cultivars were analysed. A list of 165 old apple cultivars was compiled during the study. The apple cultivars mentioned in historical sources have been identified as contemporary apple cultivars or those described in other historical pomology sources. The original names of the old apple cultivars recorded in written sources are also provided. The compiled list of apple cultivars reveals characteristics of the development of apple orchards in the cultural context of this period.

Aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG) applied 2 to 6 weeks before the optimum harvest date dramatically reduced preharvest drop of several apple cultivars (Malus domestica Borkh). AVG sprays reduced the loss of fruit firmness and starch particularly in harvests after the optimum harvest date. The development of water core was delayed in ‘York’, and maturity cracking was delayed or prevented in ‘Rome’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ by AVG. Color development was delayed by AVG for summer cultivars, ‘Redfree’ and ‘Gala’, and for ‘Golden Delicious’, but did not have an influence on red color of ‘Rome’ or ‘York’. Soluble solids concentration (SSC) was generally unaffected. Equivalent dilute airblast concentration (EDAC) of AVG at 44 mg·L−l was more effective than a standard rate of NAA for control of fruit drop for ‘Golden Delicious’. For ‘Law Rome’, an AVG rate of 66 mg·L−1 was more effective than NAA, but for ‘York’ these rates gave similar control of drop as NAA. AVG at 132 mg·L−1 ED AC and above was more effectiv...

Freezing protocol effect on quality properties of fruit tissue according to the fruit, the variety and the stage of maturity

Apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) is a commercially important fruit worldwide. Detailed information on genomic DNA polymorphisms, which are important for understanding phenotypic traits, is lacking for the apple. We re-sequenced two elite apple varieties, ‘Nagafu No. 2’ and ‘Qinguan,’ which have different characteristics. We identified many genomic variations, including 2,771,129 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), 82,663 structural variations (SVs), and 1,572,803 insertion/deletions (INDELs) in ‘Nagafu No. 2’ and 2,262,888 SNPs, 63,764 SVs, and 1,294,060 INDELs in ‘Qinguan.’ The ‘SNP,’ ‘INDEL,’ and ‘SV’ distributions were non-random, with variation-rich or -poor regions throughout the genomes. In ‘Nagafu No. 2’ and ‘Qinguan’ there were 171,520 and 147,090 non-synonymous SNPs spanning 23,111 and 21,400 genes, respectively; 3,963 and 3,196 SVs in 3,431 and 2,815 genes, respectively; and 1,834 and 1,451 INDELs in 1,681 and 1,345 genes, respectively. Genetic linkage maps of 190 flowering genes associated with multiple flowering pathways in ‘Nagafu No. 2,’ ‘Qinguan,’ and ‘Golden Delicious,’ identified complex regulatory mechanisms involved in floral induction, flower bud formation, and flowering characteristics, which might reflect the genetic variation of the flowering genes. Expression profiling of key flowering genes in buds and leaves suggested that the photoperiod and autonomous flowering pathways are major contributors to the different floral-associated traits between ‘Nagafu No. 2’ and ‘Qinguan.’ The genome variation data provided a foundation for the further exploration of apple diversity and gene–phenotype relationships, and for future research on molecular breeding to improve apple and related species.

Cultivar differences in the influence of a short period of cold storage on ethylene biosynthesis in apples

Apple (Malus domestica Borkh) cultivars ‘Reinette du Canada’ (RC) and ‘Reinette Grise du Canada’ (RG) have been declared throughout the European Community as protected designation of origin (PDO) ‘Manzana Reineta del Bierzo’. The aim of this research was to find out the influence of storage technique on quality of PDO apple cultivars ‘RC’ and ‘RG’, and to evaluate the absence of traditional post-harvest treatments in these high quality cultivars in order to reduce pesticide residues in fruit. Apples were kept in standard cold storage or in controlled atmosphere (CA). At harvest time and during storage, fruit from each treatment and storage technique was analysed to determine quality parameters as well as disorder incidence. CA storage has been useful to delay the maturity process of PDO apple cultivars ‘RC’ and ‘RG’ and to reduce the incidence of storage disorders. Apple cultivars had different behaviour so ‘RG’ cultivar showed lower weight loss (5.1%), shrivelling (6.4%) and bitter-pit (11%) than ‘RC’ cultivar (8.3%, 60.8% and 34%, respectively) at the end of storage. The response of both cultivars to the treatment was quite different, so ‘RG’ adapted better than ‘RC’ to the absence of postharvest treatments. Untreated ‘RG’ showed more brightness, total soluble solids (TSS) and TSS:titratable acidity values than treated ‘RG’, factors that could improve consumer acceptance. Effectiveness of postharvest treatment in terms of bitter-pit was lower in ‘RG’ than in ‘RC’. These results indicate that ‘RG’ would adapt better to storage without the use of chemical postharvest treatments.

Under southern Uruguayan conditions (34°37'SL;56°11'O, 40 m) winter chilling requirements are not always satisfied for the main commercial apple (Malus domestica Borkh) cultivars. The use of chemical rest breaking agents (mineral oils and hydrogen Cyanamid) to compensate these requirements is widely used. Therefore winter chill quantification should be a relevant issue to adjust this technique. To do so, adequate models to represent the advances in the endodormancy process as a function of climatic conditions are necessary. The UTAH and CH models are usually applied, regardless of which species or cultivar is considered. Although these models have the advantage to be widely spread and incorporated to commercial production, there are evidences of the lack of adjustment to the phenologyc behaviour of the main cultivars. This work's goal was to quantify the occurrence of winter chill during the endodormancy period with six models, in four apple cultivars ('Red Chief', 'Granny Smith', 'Royal Gala' and 'Fuji') during 2005 and 2006. The models used were CH, UTAH, UTAH+, Dynamic Model, North Carolina Model and Model for Subtropical Conditions. The beginning of endodormancy release was determined when 50% of leaf fall was reached and the process finished when 50% of one-year-old shoot buds sprouted in a forcing chamber. All model quantifications were based on hourly temperature data, obtained from sensors located in the tree and at the nearest weather station. The greatest temperature amplitude registered at field conditions, compared to weather station conditions, modified up to 2.5 times, the quantifications performed by the same model, being the UTAH model, the most affected by this phenomenon. These results show differences among models and years, consequently, in order to determine the viability of them in southern Uruguayan conditions, a longer evaluating period is needed.

The aim of this research was to study the effects of application of ‘hydrocomplex’ (H) and ‘Norway nitrate’ (NN) fertilizers on leaf and fruit nutrient concentrations and some fruit quality parameters in the following apple (Malus domestica Borkh) cultivars (cvs.): Golden Delicious and Black Ben Davis. Applications of 50 kg NN, 75 kg NN, 50 kg NN plus 50 kg H and 75 kg NN plus 25 kg H per 0.1 hectare significantly increased leaf Ca concentration of the cv. Golden Delicious in comparison with the control in the July 15 sampling period. Boron concentration of leaves of the cv. Black Ben Davis increased steadily throughout the season. Applications of 75 kg H and 75 kg H plus 25 kg NN per 0.1 hectare significantly increased fruit B concentration of the cv. Black Ben Davis at harvest. The ratios N/Ca, K/Ca and K + Mg/Ca in fruit were calculated for all treatments. Applications of 25–75 kg NN, 25–75 kg H as well as the combination of the two fertilizers decreased the ratios N/Ca, K/Ca and K + Mg/Ca of fruits of the cvs. Golden Delicious and Black Ben Davis in comparison with the control at harvest. Applications of 50 kg (ΝΝ), 75 kg (Η), 25 kg (ΝΝ) plus 75 kg (H) and 75 kg (NN) plus 25 kg (H) per 0.1 hectare significantly increased soluble solids of fruits of the cv. Golden Delicious at harvest.