Evaluation of late-ripening sweet cherry cultivars in Czech germplasm collection

摘要

Sweet cherry [Prunus avium L.) is a globally important, vegetatively propagated fruit crop. Owing to high returns, sweet cherry is gaining popularity in the commercial orchards of central Europe, including the Czech Republic. In 2016, commercial sweetcherry plantations covered 889 ha in the Czech Republic. Additionally, sweet cherries are regularly grown and extremely popular in home gardens. The evaluated sweet cherry germplasm collection was planted on Prunus avium rootstock at an altitude of 320m with a spacing of 6.0x6.0 m in 1989. Three trees represented each cultivar in the collection. The average annual temperature and precipitation in the region were 8.4°C and 663.5 mm, respectively. Fruits of the late-ripening sweet cherry cultivars ripened 4 weeks or more after that of the reference cultivar 'Burlaf. Late-ripening sweet cherry cultivars have higher commercial importance than sweet cherry cultivars ripening early in the season. The evaluation of economically important characters in 24 late-ripening sweet cherry cultivars conducted during 2015 and 2016 is reported herein. The evaluated cultivars varied in ripening time and fruit size and quality. The average fruit weight of only the Czech cultivar 'Techlovan' (9.56 g) was higher than 9.00 g. 'Kordia', 'Kristin', 'Summit', 'Sunburst', 'Thurn Taxis', 'Techlovan', and 'Techlovicka' had extremely pleasant taste, overall. 'Ladeho pozdni' was distinctively the latest-ripening cultivar, ripening 11 weeks after that of 'Burlaf. Further, 'Hedelfingen', 'Hudson', 'Kordia', and 'Regina' ripened 6 weeks after 'Burlaf. The most important sweet cherry cultivars are described herein. The obtained phenotypic data will be associated with the results of molecular genetic studies and used later in breeding programmes.