Tomo Milošević

Background: Fruit quality in sour cherry ( Prunus cerasus L.) is influenced by genetic factors and cultural practices, but the specific impact of rootstocks and harvest season on key fruit traits is underexplored. Objective: This study aimed to assess how rootstocks and harvest seasons affects main physical and chemical properties of sour cherry fruits. Methods: Large fruited ‘Šumadinka’ sour cherry grafted on eight Prunus rootstocks was evaluated. Fruit traits were compared. Data were analyzed using ANOVA, Pearson's correlations and principal component analysis (PCA). Results: Rootstocks, harvest seasons and their interaction significantly affected all examined traits. Gisela 6 promoted the highest values of most physical properties, followed by Adara which also induced the highest antioxidant activity (ABTS) and dry matter content. Myrobalan induced the highest phenolic and flavonoid contents. Regarding harvest season, the highest dry matter content, soluble solids, ripening index and pH values were observed in 2019, whereas the highest titratable acidity, anthocyanins and ABTS values were registered in 2020. Conclusions: These findings contribute to a better understanding of effects of rootstocks and weather conditions on fruit quality and provide valuable guidance for orchard management aimed at optimizing external and internal fruit quality of sour cherry.

During 2019 and 2020, we examined the influence of two traditional rootstocks (Mazzard seedlings and clonal Colt) on fruit size, phenolics content, and antioxidant capacity of eight commercial sweet cherry cultivars. Rootstocks significantly affected only fruit weight (FW), total anthocyanin content (TAc) and total phenolics content (TPC), being higher on Colt than on Mazzard by 5.33, 6.45 and 6.29%, respectively. Their influence on other parameters was not significant. However, the cultivars exhibited significant differences for all parameters between and within rootstocks, although their behavior was not consistent in many cases. ‘New Star’ on Mazzard and ‘Germersdorfer’ on Colt had the highest FW, whereas the highest vitamin C (Vit C) was registered in ‘June Early’ on both rootstocks. The condensed tannins (CT) and gallotannins (GT) were highest in ‘Summit’ on both rootstocks. In general, ‘Hedelfinger’, partially ‘New Star’ and ‘Lapins’, may be considered superior due to their phenolic compound contents and antioxidant activity. Contrary, ‘Summit’, ‘Stark Hardy Giant’ (‘SHG’) and ‘Sunburst’ may be considered less promising in the context of most evaluated properties. Among others, Pearson’s correlations showed that FW negatively correlated with TAc, TPC, total flavonoid content (TFC) and DPPH scavenging activity, which means that smaller fruits are a richer source of phenolic compounds and have a stronger antioxidant capacity than larger ones. Also, positive correlations were found between TPC and TFC, and TAc versus TAC. The principal component analysis (PCA) has proven to be a good statistical tool for segregating cultivars with the best and/or weakest properties. In den Jahren 2019 und 2020 wurde der Einfluss zweier traditioneller Unterlagen (Sämlingsunterlage Mazzard und klonale Unterlage Colt) auf die Fruchtgröße, den Gehalt an phenolischen Verbindungen sowie die antioxidative Kapazität von acht kommerziellen Süßkirschsorten untersucht. Die Unterlagen beeinflussten signifikant ausschließlich das Fruchtgewicht (FW), den Gesamtanthocyangehalt (TAc) sowie den Gesamtphenolgehalt (TPC), die bei auf Colt veredelten Bäumen im Vergleich zu Mazzard um 5,33 %, 6,45 % bzw. 6,29 % höher lagen. Ihr Einfluss auf die übrigen untersuchten Parameter war nicht signifikant. Demgegenüber zeigten die Sorten sowohl zwischen als auch innerhalb der Unterlagen signifikante Unterschiede in allen untersuchten Parametern, wobei ihr Verhalten in vielen Fällen nicht konsistent war. Das höchste Fruchtgewicht wiesen ‘New Star’ auf Mazzard sowie ‘Germersdorfer’ auf Colt auf, während der höchste Vitamin-C-Gehalt (Vit C) bei ‘June Early’ auf beiden Unterlagen festgestellt wurde. Die höchsten Gehalte an kondensierten Tanninen (CT) und Gallotanninen (GT) wurden bei ‘Summit’ auf beiden Unterlagen gemessen. Insgesamt können ‘Hedelfinger’, teilweise auch ‘New Star’ und ‘Lapins’, aufgrund ihres hohen Gehalts an phenolischen Verbindungen sowie ihrer antioxidativen Aktivität als überlegen eingestuft werden. Dagegen erscheinen ‘Summit’, ‘Stark Hardy Giant’ (‘SHG’) und ‘Sunburst’ im Hinblick auf die meisten bewerteten Eigenschaften weniger vielversprechend. Korrelationsanalysen nach Pearson zeigten unter anderem eine negative Korrelation zwischen dem Fruchtgewicht und TAc, TPC, dem Gesamtflavonoidgehalt (TFC) sowie der DPPH-Radikalfängeraktivität, was darauf hinweist, dass kleinere Früchte reichere Quellen phenolischer Verbindungen darstellen und eine höhere antioxidative Kapazität besitzen als größere Früchte. Zudem wurden positive Korrelationen zwischen TPC und TFC sowie zwischen TAc und TAC festgestellt. Die Hauptkomponentenanalyse (PCA) erwies sich als geeignetes statistisches Instrument zur Trennung von Sorten mit besonders günstigen bzw. schwachen Eigenschaften.

The endocarp or stone is the most stable morphological feature of the genus Prunus. However, the identification of plum types, groups and/or genotypes based on endocarp is complicated because of a wide range of variation and morphological transitional states. From this point of view, knowledge on the degree of variability within and between plum species or cultivars is a sine qua non for taxonomists and also for pomologists. In this study, different endocarp morphological traits, such as SW, linear dimensions (L, W and T), D_a, D_g, S, V and shape indexes (φ, SI, E, RS, RO, DE and PI) were determined using analysis of variance and multivariate analysis (correlations and PCA). Results showed significant differences among accessions for all properties evaluated but with high overlaps in values. In most cases, the examined parameters were positively or negatively correlated with each other, indicating developmental relationships between them. Indeed, positive correlations were recorded for most variables, especially related to SW and endocarp linear dimensions. These results showed that the above properties could be a powerful indicator for selecting adequate endocarp size and shape in accessions, which may be used in taxonomic analysis. With an account of these correlations, PCA was employed to correctly estimate the endocarp size and shape and distribution, segregation and dispersion of accessions. All linear measurements and index values showed a normal or low variability at the individual level in most cases, with the exception of SW, V and PI in both European and Damson plums and S in Damson plums. Of the 15 examined parameters, European plum had significantly higher SW, L, T, D_a, D_g, S, E, RO and PI values than Damson plum. In contrast, Damson plum had higher SI, RS and DE values, while W, V and φ were similar.

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of Sharka disease on fruit weight, chemical composition and antioxidant activity of apricot fruit cv. ‘Precoce de Thyrinte’. During two consecutive years, the presence of PPV-M strain was determined on leaves and fruits. This strain decreased the content of soluble solids content (SSC), invert (IS), reducing (RS), sucrose (SU) and total sugars (TS), pigments (chlorophylls and total carotenoids), total phenolics (TPC), total flavonoids (TFC), ripening (RI) and sweetness indexes (SI) in infected trees. The effect of PPV-M strain on pH juice and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) was not significant but increased ash content and both malic and citric acids. In general, a significantly greater deterioration in fruit quality was observed in the rainy 2023 year. However, the significant effect interaction viral status × year indicated the complex nature of the deterioration in fruit quality depending on PPV-M infection and weather conditions during fruit development and its maturity.

The beginning of growing of red raspberry in Serbia dates back to 1880, when Serbian emigrants from the USA brought American red raspberry seedlings (Rubus idaeus ssp. strigosus Michx.) to the vicinity of the Valjevo city in western Serbia. The people gave it the local name ‘Valjevska’ (syn.: ‘Kopaoničanka’), but it was reliably established that it is the American ‘Marlboro’ cultivar. The commercial cultivation of raspberries dates back to 1920, when, apart from the Valjevo area, raspberries began to be grown in the Čačak area, also in western Serbia with a local cultivar of small and aromatic fruit called ‘Jelička’. Apart from the mentioned cultivars, other local cultivars such as ‘Bukovička’ and ‘Zaječarska’ are grown sporadically. At the beginning of the 70s of the 20th century, the small Arilje city with its surrounding villages in the hilly and mountainous area of western Serbia grew into a mega center of red raspberry production with the American ‘Willamette’ cultivar. In this area, the quality of raspberries “a la Arilje” and a complete agricultural system of red raspberry production, which had not been seen in the world until then, was built and continues today. The main goal of this review is the analysis of red raspberry production in the world and Serbia over 70 years and the proposal of technological intervention in order to obtain regular, economically justified and sustainable production.