Fruit Yield and Quality Performance of Low Chilling Nectarine Cultivars under Mediterranean Climate

This study was carried out to investigate fruit yield and quality characteristics among new nectarine cultivars grown in the eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey. ‘Gardeta’, ‘Gartario’, and ‘Garofa’ nectarine cultivars were cultivated on ‘GN۱۵’ rootstock. The flowering stage, fruit set percentage, yield, and fruit quality properties of these cultivars were investigated between ۲۰۱۸ and ۲۰۲۱. During the study, chill requirements ranged between ۳۹۱ and ۶۰۰ chilling hours and between ۲۰۷ and ۳۶۱ chill units in the area, and huge values were obtained for the average initial fruit set above ۶۰% and the final fruit set above ۴۵%. ‘Gardeta’ had the highest cumulative yield per tree (۸۰.۱۵ kg tree-۱) and cumulative yield per hectare (۱۳۳.۰۴ tons ha-۱). The fruit size, Total Soluble Solids (TSS) content, and fruit coloration were homogeneously distributed in all three cultivars. In addition, the Flowering (F) and Initial Fruit Set (IFS) characters were negatively correlated with Fruit Weight (FW), Fruit Length (FLE), and Fruit Diameter (FD). As a result, the ‘Gardeta’ was found remarkable with late flowering, the highest yield, and superior fruit quality characteristics such as size, red skin color, and high TSS/total acidity values in the eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey. In addition, the date of Full Flowering (FF) and Fruit Firmness (FF) were negatively correlated with fruit Skin color L* (SL), C (SC), and h° (SH) variables. The results demonstrated that the new nectarine cultivars used here showed changes in yield parameters and fruit quality attributes depending on the genotypic and environmental effects.

Keywords:

Prunus persica , Nectarine fruit set , Fruit size , Fruit color , Peach-nectarines.