Selection of superior local sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) genotypes of Iran for different applications of fresh consumption and processing

In this study, 23 local genotypes of sour cherry from collection in Meshkin Dasht-Karaj in terms of physical and chemical characteristics including weight, flesh to core ratio, firmness, total soluble solids, dry matter content, titratable acidity, pH, flavour index, respiration rate, color indices of fruits and juices (L*, b*, a*, Hue and Chroma) and their correlations were examined. The results showed that all genotypes had significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) in terms of the studied characteristics. Based on the correlations in the color indices, a* index alone can be used to evaluate the red color differences of various genotypes. According to the results, genotypes of KB-100, KB-450, and KB-213 with suitable characteristics such as weight (>2.8 g), flesh to core ratio (>8.5), flavour index (>9.5) and acidity (<1.75%) are more suitable for fresh consumption and genotypes of KB-232 and KB-247 with suitable weight (>3.7 g), dry matter content (>15%) and respiration rate (<9000 mg CO2/kg.hr) are more applicable for processing. Also, genotypes with high acidity (>3%) such as KB-157, KB-121, KB-234, and KB-152 are more suitable for pickling and fruit roll-up processing. Genotypes with high dry matter content (>21%) and intense redness (a*<9 for skin and a*<16 for fruit juice) such as KB-136 and KB-449 are more suitable for the production of powder, dried sour cherries, syrup and nectar. Late harvested genotypes with firmness (>6N) such as KB-343 and KB-353 are also recommended for compote and jam processing, respectively.