Growth, Flowering time and Quality of Twelve Apple Varieties under Urmia Climate

IntroductionApple is a major commercial fruit crop grown in Iran. The west Azerbaijan province (WAP) is one of the main regions of apple production in the country covering 51,000 ha and producing 1,200,000 tons in 2010. Red Delicious and Golden Delicious apple cultivars are dominant (>90%), however, interest in new apple cultivars has increased among fruit growers and there are many commercial apple cultivars for which compatibility to this region has not been determined. the main objective of this study was to evaluate yield, quality new apple cultivars to find some alternatives for old and common apple cultivars for apple orchards.
Materials and methodsThe experiment was conducted at the Kahriz Horticultural Research Station Urmia-Iran. Studied apple cultivars were Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Red Spur, Fuji, Delbar Stival, Golden Smothee, Jonagold, Gholab-Kohanz, Golab-Kermanshah, Mahali Shikhi, and Shafie Abadi. The experimental design was a randomized complete blocks, with 12 treatments each replicated three- times with four trees per plot. Data for various orchard and commercial traits were collected including shoot growth, full blooming time, fruit weight, length and diameter, percent of total soluble solids (TSS), titratble acidity (TA) and fruit firmness (kg/cm2). SPSS (version 20) was used to analyze data.
Results and discussionsBased on the results, studied apple cultivars were showed significant differences in terms of quantitative and qualitative traits. The greatest shoot growth (51.18 cm) was found in Red Delicious. Jonagold produced the least shoot growth (26.23 cm).Red spore and Joanagold showed the highest length to diameter ratio (0.91) and was stretched more than other cultivars. Studied apple cultivars were grouped in three and five groups in terms of flowering time and fruit ripening time, respectively. The highest fruit weight (236.07 g) belonged to the Red Delicious and the minimum weight (63.23g) belonged to the local cultivar named as Mahali Sheikhi. The highest fruit firmness (kg/cm2) was observed in Fuji (9.17), followed by Golab Kermanshah (9.13), Red Delicious (9.03) and Golden Delicious (8.76). Fuji showed the highest percent of TSS (18.6) and Mahahi Sheikhi and Golab Kohanz showed the lowest TSS. Fuji also showed the highest percentage of total acidity (1.32) and Golab Kermanshah, Golab Kohans, Shafiabadi and Golshah showed the lowest TA ranged 0.31-0.41.
ConclusionAmong cultivars, Fuji showed the highest rank of quality indices, but, because of late ripening behavior may not be suitable for planting in hilly areas. The Golden Smoothie with a large fruit size, high growth and as well as late flowering habit may be a good alternative to the Golden Delicious. Red Spur, a spur-type cultivar with lower growth rate and dense canopy with large fruit size and elongated fruit shape with higher L/D ratio may be considered suitable for high density plantations and an alternative to Red Delicious. Delbar Stival had larger fruit compared to the summer and early summer cultivars. Golab Kermanshah another early ripening cultivar with high fruit firmness (near to Fuji) may be suitable for fresh market.