Pomological and technological characteristics of collected selections of cherry plum Prunus cerasifera Erhr.

Abstract

A plantation collection containing 32 genotypes selected from spontaneous populations of cherry plum Prunus cerasifera Erhr. was set up in the region of the Eastern Serbian town of Svrljig. The fruit trees budded from Prunus cerasifera seedlings and were planted at 5x4 m spacing on a mild slope of south-western aspect. This study shows the most important characteristics of the 19 selections in the collection, and the average results recorded in the 2000-2003 period. The most significant characteristics of the trees, their productivity, and fruit and stone characteristics are presented. The average coarseness of fruits, i.e. their length, width and thickness, measured 25.0x 24.4x25.0 mm, while stone coarseness was 14.4x10.3x3.6 mm. The average fruit weight was 12.1 g (24.3-4.8 g), and stone weight 0.85 g (2.2-0.3 g). Depending on fruit and stone weight, the mesocarp content was 93% (96.3-90.3%). Taking into consideration the possibility of fruit exploitation for the production of biologically high-quality food, the mesocarp chemical composition was thoroughly examined. The fruits were found to have increased contents of total acids, achieving an average of 3.09% (3.44-2.60%), which was the initial objective of this selection. Total solids content was 13.5% (16.2-10.3%), total soluble solids 12.5% (14.5-9.5%) and total sugars 6.00% (11.45-3.14%). Considering these characteristics, the selections that were singled out deserve more attention in terms of preserving their biodiversity, forming a gene bank and commercial cultivation.