Fruit Physicochemical and Qualitative Characteristics of some Superior Sour Cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) Genotypes

Iran has rich cherry germplasm resources and increasing the fruit quality of these trees is the goal of their breeding programs. In this study، fruit physicochemical and qualitative characteristics of 8 selected sour cherry genotypes which were collected from different regions of Iran، were investigated during 2011 and 2012. The results showed that genotype had significant effect on the studied characteristics and there were differences among genotypes in terms of different characteristics. PCA analysis indicated that the studied characters located in three components that explained 84% of the total variability observed. According to the cluster analysis، genotypes were divided into three clusters that some Iranian superior sour cherry genotypes were separated from foreign cultivars. Standing of Iranian and foreign genotypes in a same cluster is an indication of high fruit physicochemical and qualitative characteristics of these genotypes. It can be claimed that these genotypes are superior in terms of properties such as high weight، firmness، red color، total sugar، TA and flavor and panel test that has resulted in a better position in ranking than improved genotypes. According to the results، genotypes KaThLaSSGe21، Hamedan، KaTaJo2Ge9، KrRIV4C20 and KaThLa3Ge23 had better fruit physicochemical and qualitative characteristics than other genotypes، so they can be considered as promising genotypes for further evaluations of sour cherry breeding programs and new cultivar release programs.