Determining Morphological, Pomological, and Qualitative Traits of Peach Cultivars and Genotypes under the Environmental Conditions of Khorasan Razavi Province

This study was conducted to evaluate the morpho-physiological and pomological traits of 21 peach cultivars/genotypes under the Mashhad climatic conditions, during two years (2017-2019), based on a randomized complete block design with three replications. The results indicated significant differences between cultivars and genotypes in terms of morphological, pomological, and qualitative traits. The results showed that ‘Early-Red’ and ‘Vizivo’ were among the early flowering genotypes with a long flowering period (20 days). ‘Baby Gold-5’ and ‘PMsh-5’ were the earliest-ripening, and ‘PMsh-2’ and ‘PMsh-4’ were the latest-ripening genotypes. ‘Dixie Red’ and ‘PMsh-5’with 1.85 and 1.77 m3 respectively had the highest volume of the crown of the tree. ‘J.H.Hale’ had the highest fruit weight with an average of 148.92 g, while ‘Apago’, ‘Early-Red’, and ‘PMsh-5’ had the lowest fruit weight. ‘PMsh-1’, ‘Vizivo’, ‘PMsh-6’, and ‘Sorkho-Sefid Mashhad’ cultivars and genotypes had the highest fruit length, width, and shape index and placed statistically in the same group with ‘J.H.Hale’ cultivar. ‘Sorkho-Sefid Mashhad’ cultivar showed 59.1% more yield efficiency, compared to the control cultivar (‘J.H.Hale’). The highest yield efficiency belonged to ‘Baby Gold-5’, ‘PMsh-3’, ‘Suncrest’, and ‘PMsh-8’. The lowest acidity achieved in ‘Apago’, ‘Shasta’, and ‘PMsh-8’. ‘Sorkho-Sefid Mashhad’, had the highest TSS content, which was increased by 3.68% compared to the control cultivar (‘J.H.Hale’). ‘Apago’, ‘PMsh-1’, ‘Shasta’, and ‘Sorkho-Sefid Mashhad’, compared to ‘J.H.Hale’ cultivar, had higher flavor index, 16.17, 27.25, 26.29 and 26.67%, respectively. In general, based on the studied traits, ‘Sorkho-Sefid Mashhad’, ‘Vizivo’, ‘PMsh-1’, and ‘PMsh-6’ are recommended as promising cultivars and genotypes under Mashhad climatic conditions.