Variation of physical and chemical characters within an elite sea buckthorn ( Hippophae rhamnoides L.) breeding population

Abstract

Physicochemical characteristics of 44 elite sea buckthorn bushes were determined over 2 years. The bushes can be divided into five groups on the basis of their origins. Significant group differences were detected among most studied traits. Finnish origins (subsp. rhamnoides) were characterized by low vitamin C (VC) concentration, low total sugar (TS) concentration and high titratable acidity (TA), while Chinese origins (subsp. sinensis) showed high VC, TS and TA. Progenies from crosses between Finnish and Danish individuals showed no significant difference from their parents for the traits concerned. Hybrids between Chinese (subsp. turkestanica) and Finnish individuals were intermediate. However, hybrids between Siberian and Finnish individuals had a relatively high sugar:acid ratio (SAR), which is a desirable property for fresh fruit production. Large fluctuations in physicochemical characteristics between the two years show that the results of one year are not sufficient to reveal the phenotypic potential of a particular genotype. However, strong rank-order correlations for VC, TA, pH, TS, SAR and berry shape between the two years suggest that one can compare different genotypes on the basis of 1 year’s data. The negative correlation between seed weight and TS suggests that seed weight could usefully and cheaply predict sugar concentration of sea buckthorn berries in a preliminary screening. Climatic conditions and variable periods between ripening and harvesting appear to have considerable effects on the studied traits.