Evaluation of “Zoshk”: A new mid-ripening sweet cherry cultivar with suitable fruit size and quality

Introducing new sweet cherry cultivars with different ripening times is one of the most important goals of cherry breeding programs in Iran. ‘Zoshk’ cultivar was selected from the native sweet cherry genotypes of Khorasan Razavi Province by implementing eight research projects for 21 years since 1998. The results of this study showed that this cultivar had semi-spreading tree habits and a moderate degree of branching. The time of the first flowering of the ‘Zoshk’ cultivar was in the second week of April. A pollination study demonstrated that this cultivar was self-incompatible. ‘Sefid-90’, ‘Surati-e-Lavasan’, and ‘Dovomras-e-Mashhad’ cultivars were suitable pollinizer cultivars for ‘Zoshk’. In addition, the harvesting time of this cultivar was in the third week of June. The average fruit weight of the ‘Zoshk’ cultivar (10.17 g) was higher than those of ‘Shandiz’ (7.23 g), ‘Toos’ (6.87 g), and ‘Siah-e-Mashhad’ (7.80 g). Further, the total soluble solid was higher in ‘Zoshk’ (19.66%) compared to ‘Shandiz’ (16.63%) and ‘Toos’ (17.13%) cultivars. Moreover, the yield of ‘Zoshk’ in the economic fruiting stage was 33.67 kg per tree, higher than those of ‘Shandiz’ (22.43 kg) and ‘Toos’ (12.67 kg) cultivars. Regarding the high yield, average fruit weight, percentage of soluble solids, and extended ripening time of the ‘Zoshk’ cultivar, the expansion of this cultivar is recommended in some sweet cherry orchards in Iran.