ISHS Acta Horticulturae 713: VI International Peach Symposium
BREEDING STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE PEACH FRUIT QUALITY |
| Authors: | D. Giovannini, A. Liverani, M. Merli, F. Brandi |
| Keywords: | flesh firmness, stony-hard, melting, non-melting, shelf life |
| DOI: | 10.17660/ActaHortic.2006.713.12 |
| Abstract:
The paper describes the breeding activity of the CRA (Centre of Research in Agriculture) at the Research Unit in Forlė to improve the internal fruit quality in peach. In order to increase handling tolerance and post-harvest life span of fresh market peaches and nectarines, stony-hard (SH) and non-melting (NM) were crossed with melting (M) genotypes of excellent flavour and appearance. The stony-hard, recessive character, segregated in F2. While in most cases this trait was inherited together with low-acid flavour and flesh adherence to the stone, a few individuals yielding stony hard, freestone and acid-flavoured fruits were also detected. Non-melting peach selections for fresh market, with nicely coloured skin, were obtained in only two cross-generations. While the crosses SH x M or NM x M originated only melting soft-fleshed F1, the F1 from NM x SH genotypes originated seedlings with a wider variability in flesh firmness, from hard to soft. Since 2000 the breeding activity has been supported by studies of shelf life of cultivars and advanced selections differing for flesh structure. The results indicate that the fruits of the stony hard and the fresh market non-melting genotypes keep a higher firmness longer than the melting genotypes, thus showing potentiality for being harvested at a more mature stage and having a longer shelf life than the cultivars nowadays commercialised for the fresh market. | |
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