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Apple cultivars bred in Holovousy.
Part 2 – Fruit characteristics and their storage potential
J. B, J. K, M. Š
Research and Breeding Institute of Pomology Holovousy Ltd., Holovousy, Czech Republic
Abstract
B J., K J., Š M., 2012. Apple cultivars bred in Holovousy. Part 2 – Fruit characteristics and
their storage potential. Hort. Sci. (Prague), 40: 52–57.
In continuation of a previous study concerning tree performance and yield characteristics of 20 Holovousy-bred apple
cultivars, their fruit characteristics and storage potential were evaluated during 2006–2011 in comparison to commercial
standards (Golden Delicious and Jonagold). Fruits of Meteor cv. had the longest storage potential, exceeding six months.
It was followed in this respect by cvs Rubimeg, Zuzana, Rucla and Angold that were better than both standards. Mean
fruit sizes of cvs Meteor, Angold, Mivibe, Nabella and Zuzana were larger than the standards. Fruits of cultivar Rubin-
step were evaluated as the most attractive. In this respect also Rubimeg, Meteor and Rucla were remarkable. Regarding
total taste Rucla cv. was the clear winner, followed by cvs Meteor, Rubinstep, Rubimeg and Angold. Regarding total
fruit quality cvs Meteor, Rucla and Rubinstep were better than standards. Besides these cultivars, Angold, Fragrance,
Julia and Selena were evaluated on the level comparable to standards.
Keywords: time of consumption; fruit size; fruit appearance; fruit taste; total fruit quality
is paper is focused on the evaluation of fruit
quality of apple cultivars bred in Holovousy, as a
continuation of a previous study concerning their
vigour and yield performance. At present, only 10
of these cultivars were mutually compared in some
respects (B, K 2006). Incidence
of storage diseases on some of these new cultivars
was also an object of a previous paper (B et
al. 2006). Some parameters of these cultivars dur-
ing their cold storage life were also studied previ-
ously (G et al. 2008). Standard procedures of
fruit evaluation in different cultivars during pub-
lic tasting are given in a range of publications (e.g.
B, P 2010). A more complete com-
parison of the entire cultivar group was the princi-
pal aim of the study.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
is study took place in Holovousy during
2007–2011. Fruit samples from each cultivar, the
mean weight being around 3 kg, were usually ob-
tained each year from every cultivar harvested at
two or three different terms during its optimal har-
vest maturity period. All samples were immediate-
ly introduced into cold storage after their harvest,
and remained there permanently throughout their
total storage life at temperature regulated within
2 or 3°C. During this period every fruit sample was
organoleptically evaluated at least two times in the
case of autumn cultivars, and usually 3 or 4 times
for later ripening cultivars. Resultant upon these
evaluations, the length of the consumption matu-
Supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, Project No. 2527112101.
Vol. 40, 2013, No. 2: 52–57 Hort. Sci. (Prague)
53
rity period of each cultivar was estimated. For these
evaluations, several fruits per sample were taken
in random from cold storage the previous day and
placed into laboratory temperature (approx. 20°C).
e evaluation itself consisted of weighing fruits,
estimation of colour coverage area (%) and judging
of fruit appearance using rating scale 1–9. Subse-
quently, inner fruit characteristics (flesh juiciness,
flesh fitness, total taste, acidity and flavour) were
recorded using the same rating scale (1–9) after
fruit cutting. All data were summarised in Table 1.
ese data were tested by analysis of variance. Cul-
tivar means were separated by the Turkey’s least
significance difference test at P < 0.05.
Besides our own evaluations, some results from
the public sessions of tasting of apple varieties
organised by our institute (twice a year during
1998–2011) were included in the study. ey in-
volved evaluation of the best cultivars and ad-
vanced selections of every particular year. Number
of participants on these sessions fluctuated from
33 to more than 200 people. ese public evalua-
tions of anonymously given evaluations of variety
samples were also based on a 1–9 rating scale, but
were finalized by a total score obtained by summing
of all single characteristics and providing a double
value for total taste. e most important character-
istics were included in Tables 2 and 3.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Season of consumption maturity
e earliest ripening of all 22 mutually compared
cultivars was cv. Nabella (Fig. 1). Its fruit were suit-
Table 1. Mean values of the main fruit characteristics
Cultivar Fruit
weight (g)
Fruit
appearance
Red over-colour
extension (%)
Flesh
juiciness
Flesh
firmness
Total
taste Acidity Flavour
Angold 227.8 6.6 68.5 6.2 5.7 7.0 4.5 5.9
Clijo 172.2 5.9 71.4 5.6 4.5 6.4 6.0 5.7
Dima 147.5 6.8 66.3 6.1 5.8 6.2 5.9 5.6
Fragrance 195.0 7.2 86.7 5.9 6.2 6.3 6.8 6.9
Golden Delicious 193.4 7.1 8.2 5.4 5.5 6.5 6.2 6.0
Jarka 177.9 7.3 61.9 5.5 5.4 5.9 6.0 5.5
Jonagold 229.1 7.8 66.1 5.8 5.6 6.8 5.7 6.3
Julia 146.3 7.5 98.6 5.0 7.0 6.6 5.5 5.8
Klára 138.6 5.7 71.0 4.4 5.9 5.7 6.3 4.6
Meteor 252.0 7.8 84.3 7.2 5.7 7.5 4.4 6.8
Miodar 161.8 7.4 92.5 6.1 4.6 6.3 4.4 5.2
Mivibe 216.5 6.6 86.8 6.3 5.2 6.4 6.2 6.8
Nabella 206.4 6.5 61.1 4.3 4.3 5.5 6.8 6.8
Produkta 185.7 5.9 06.0 5.5 5.1 4.0 3.9
Resista 178.3 6.0 19.7 4.9 5.3 5.8 7.3 5.1
Rubimeg 187.1 7.8 91.4 5.8 5.9 7.2 6.5 6.4
Rubinstep 184.0 8.1 86.9 7.0 5.8 7.4 6.6 6.7
Rucla 159.3 7.7 90.0 7.4 7.5 7.7 5.9 7.3
Selena 188.6 7.2 76.8 6.5 5.1 6.6 5.5 6.5
Vysočina 199.2 6.1 81.3 4.4 4.0 5.9 5.4 5.0
Zita 125.6 5.4 53.2 6.9 5.6 6.3 4.0 5.2
Zuzana 201.0 5.3 45.0 6.1 7.7 5.3 3.2 5.8
Hort. Sci. (Prague) Vol. 40, 2013, No. 2: 52–57
54
able for consuming from the beginning of October
till Christmas time. e period of storage duration
acceptance was not much less for either cv. Selena or
Vysočina. On the contrary, the longest consumption
period was recorded cv. Meteor. Its total consump-
tion period exceeded six months. In a decreasing
order of consumption period length, Meteor was fol-
lowed by cvs Rubimeg, Zuzana, Rucla and Angold.
Suitability of their fruit’s acceptance for consumption
ended during June. In both standard cultivars, this
characteristic was about one month shorter.
Fruit size
e mean fruit weight of cv. Meteor was 252 g, une-
quivocal to all other cultivars (Table 1). In a decreasing
order it was followed by cvs Angold, Mivibe, Nabella
and Zuzana. eir mean fruit weight was higher than
200 g. ese figures correspond quite well to previous
publication of these cultivars (B, K
2006). Mean fruit size of standard cv. Golden Deli-
cious is also in agreement to data from some publi-
cations (B, L 2006). On the contrary the
smallest mean fruit size (126 g) was recorded on sum-
mer cv. Zita. It was followed in this respect by stor-
able cv. Karla having mean fruit weight 139 g.
Fruit appearance
Fruits of cv. Rubinstep were evaluated as the
most attractive. e cvs Jonagold, Rubimeg, Meteor
(Fig.2a) and Rucla (Fig. 2b) were found not to differ
Table 2. e best Holovousy cultivars in January public tastings in comparison to standard ones
Cultivar Year e highest values from public panel tastings from 1998–2011
points in total final succession flesh firmness flesh juiciness total taste fruit appearance
Meteor
2003 46.5 16.3 6.8 6.7 7.3
2006 44.6 16.1 6.3 6.2 7.5
2007 45.7 26.0 6.7 6.4 8.1
2010 45.2 16.2 6.3 6.5 7.6
Angold
2004 45.5 36.2 6.8 6.7 7.7
2007 44.6 46.3 6.9 6.4 7.4
2010 44.9 36.7 6.8 6.2 7.6
2011 45.3 36.2 6.8 6.6 7.4
Rubínstep
2005 45.0 66.3 6.1 6.5 7.3
2006 42.9 12 5.1 6.1 5.7 7.4
2008 44.9 46.4 6.1 6.5 7.4
2011 45.2 46.4 6.3 6.7 6.8
Rucla
2002 42.5 17 5.9 6.4 6.4 6.6
2006 42.9 11 6.2 6.3 6.3 6.5
2007 44.2 56.5 6.4 6.7 6.6
2008 44.2 11 6.4 6.4 6.6 7.0
Golden
Delicious
2004 44.2 76.4 5.9 6.6 7.1
2005 44.7 96.5 6.4 6.8 7.0
2007 43.6 96.2 6.0 6.4 7.3
2008 44.2 10 6.5 6.3 6.6 7.1
Jonagold
1998 45.5 5. 6.6 6.7 6.0 7.5
2002 44.7 76.6 6.6 6.9 7.4
2010 43.9 10 6.3 6.3 6.3 7.2
2011 43.3 11 6.2 6.4 6.6 7.1
Vol. 40, 2013, No. 2: 52–57 Hort. Sci. (Prague)
55
significantly from it in attractiveness. Also, summer
cv. Julia was outstanding in this characteristic, being
nearly completely red in its extent of over colour. e
cultivars with the lowest values for fruit appearance
recorded were Zuzana, Zita, Klára, Clijo and Produk-
ta, with the last cultivar being completely without any
over colour.
Flesh juiciness
e highest content of juice was recorded in cv. Ru-
cla, followed by cvs Meteor, Rubinstep and Zita. On
the contrary, the driest fleshed cultivars were Nabella,
Vysočina and Klára. Commercial standard cv. Jona-
gold was classified mid-range whereas Golden Deli-
cious resembled cultivars with a lower content of juice.
Flesh firmness
Zuzana cv. was the most outstanding in flesh
firmness but was closely followed by cv. Rucla. e
summer cv. Julia was classified at the third position.
Mean values of cultivars in the next sequence were
much less. On the other hand, relatively the soft-
est was the flesh of cvs Vysočina, Nabella and Clijo.
e both standard cultivars were classified in the
mean beneath the middle.
Total taste
In this most important criterion cv. Rucla was
classified at the top position followed within
minimal difference by cvs Meteor and Rubinstep.
Table 3. e best Holovousy cultivars in May public tastings in comparison to standard
Cultivar Year e highest values from public panel tastings from 1998–2011
points total final succession flesh firmness flesh juiciness total taste fruit appearance
Meteor
2004 46.2 26.4 7.0 6.4 7.3
2006 48.1 16.7 6.9 7.0 7.8
2007 44.9 26.0 6.5 6.3 7.5
2011 43.6 26.4 6.6 6.7 7.5
Angold
2004 45.4 46.2 7.0 6.6 7.3
2005 43.7 46.0 6.4 5.8 7.9
2009 42.7 56.0 6.3 6.1 6.4
2011 41.9 96.1 6.7 6.1 7.2
Rucla
2004 42.9 11 6.4 6.1 6.2 6.8
2006 44.8 56.5 6.4 6.6 7.1
2007 43.6 11 6.4 6.5 6.4 6.4
2011 40.0 14 6.2 6.0 6.1 6.2
Rubínstep
2004 42.1 18 5.9 5.8 6.0 5.9
2005 42.3 14 5.6 5.6 5.7 7.4
2011 42.8 46.5 6.2 6.4 7.2
Rubimeg 2004 43.6 76.3 6.6 6.1 6.6
Golden
Delicious
2004 41.7 24 6.2 5.3 6.1 7.0
2005 41.6 23 6.0 5.8 6.1 6.2
2006 41.4 27 5.8 5.4 6.2 5.2
2010 40.8 14 5.9 6.2 6.3 7.6
Jonagold
2006 42.7 17 6.2 6.7 5.8 6.6
2007 43.0 17 5.9 6.0 6.3 7.1
2008 42.9 86.3 6.6 6.6 5.8
2010 39.5 23 5.9 5.7 5.9 7.8
Hort. Sci. (Prague) Vol. 40, 2013, No. 2: 52–57
56
Angold
Clijo
Fragrance
Golden Delicious
Jarka
Jonagold
Klára
Meteor
Nabella
Produkta
Resista
Rubimeg
Rubinstep
Rucla
Selena
Vysočina
Zuzana
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Fig. 1. Mean time of fruit consume maturity between 2007–2011
Fig. 2. Fruits of Meteor (a) and Rucla (b)
(a)
(b)
Cultivars following these were Rubimeg, Angold,
Jonagold, Julia, Selena and Golden Delicious. Con-
trariwise by the lowest values of this scoring were
in the mean evaluated cvs Produkta, Zuzana and
Nabella.
e character of the taste was more sweet in
case of cvs Rubinstep and Rubimeg (similarly to
cv. Golden Delicious), whereas the taste in case of
cvs Angold and Meteor was relatively more acid.
By the highest level of acidity was distinguished by
cv. Zuzana.
Besides its taste cv. Rucla excelled also in the
mean rating of flavour. In this respect was followed
by cvs Fragrance, Nabella, Mivibe, Meteor and Ru-
binstep. In the opposite as the poorest in flavour
cvs Produkta and Klára were evaluated.
Total fruit quality
On the basis of all evaluated characteristics cvs
Meteor, Rucla and Rubinstep have significantly
better fruit quality than standard cvs Jonagold and
Golden Delicious. In addition to these, the best also
include cvs Angold, Fragrance, Julia and Selena,
seeming to be fully comparable with these stand-
ards. Especially in the case of standard cv. Golden
Delicious, fruit quality could be largely influenced
Vol. 40, 2013, No. 2: 52–57 Hort. Sci. (Prague)
57
by climatic and some other factors (D, S
1983; L 2006).
A certain level of superiority was found in some
of our cultivars, indicated by the results of public
tastings from 1998–2011. In these January-organ-
ised events, cvs Meteor, Angold and Rubinstep ob-
tained the most frequent first positions (Table 2).
Also cv. Rucla was on these sessions more or less
comparable to standards. In the case of May ses-
sions of these public tasting cv. Meteor was unam-
biguously regarding total performance number one
(Table 3). Beside this taste leader also cvs Angold,
Rucla, Rubinstep and Rubimeg were frequently
better than standards.
Our data concerning fruit quality of standards are
in the main comparable to those from some previ-
ous studies in our country (P et al. 2006).
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Received for publication June 6, 2012
Accepted after corrections August 11, 2012
Corresponding author:
Ing. J B, CSc., Research and Breeding Institute of Pomology Holovousy Ltd., Holovousy 1,
508 01 Hořice, Czech Republic
phone: + 420 493 692 821, fax: + 420 493 692 833, e-mail: blazek@vsuo.cz
Hort. Sci. (Prague) Vol. 40, 2013, No. 2: 52–57
