Articles
Differences and similarities between some European and Japanese plum cultivars
Article number
1260_21
Pages
129 – 136
Language
English
Abstract
The Prunus genus includes more than 35 species and originated from Europe, Asia, and America.
The most important species are the European plum (P. domestica L.) and the Japanese plum (P. salicina Lindl.). In Romania, almost all cultivated plum cultivars belong to the species P. domestica L. Lately the Japanese plum fruits have gained consumers interest because of their general appearance and juiciness.
In 2009 a comparative study has started at the Research Institute for Fruit Growing Pitesti, Romania, with six P. domestica cultivars (Tita, Carpatin, Roman, Romanta, Agent, and Andreea) and four P. salicina cultivars (El Dorado, Black Star, Black Beauty, and Angeleno). The cultivars were grafted on Myrobalan rootstocks and planted in the field at 4×2 m distances.
During 2013-2015 the following observations and measurements were carried out: flowering and ripening time, yield (kg tree-1), fruit colour, fruit weight (g), soluble solids content (% Brix), flesh firmness (kg cm‑2), and infections by Plum pox virus and Monilinia sp.
The results showed that Japanese plum cultivars blossomed almost two weeks earlier than European plum cultivars.
This characteristic exposes them to the risk of late spring frosts which usually appear until mid-April.
Japanese plum cultivars also proved a higher susceptibility to Monilinia than the European plums.
Even if the fruit crop is quite similar for both species (above 15 kg tree-1 seven years after planting) and fruit size is larger in the case of Japanese plum cultivars, our experiment recommends the European cultivars for industrial growing.
The most important species are the European plum (P. domestica L.) and the Japanese plum (P. salicina Lindl.). In Romania, almost all cultivated plum cultivars belong to the species P. domestica L. Lately the Japanese plum fruits have gained consumers interest because of their general appearance and juiciness.
In 2009 a comparative study has started at the Research Institute for Fruit Growing Pitesti, Romania, with six P. domestica cultivars (Tita, Carpatin, Roman, Romanta, Agent, and Andreea) and four P. salicina cultivars (El Dorado, Black Star, Black Beauty, and Angeleno). The cultivars were grafted on Myrobalan rootstocks and planted in the field at 4×2 m distances.
During 2013-2015 the following observations and measurements were carried out: flowering and ripening time, yield (kg tree-1), fruit colour, fruit weight (g), soluble solids content (% Brix), flesh firmness (kg cm‑2), and infections by Plum pox virus and Monilinia sp.
The results showed that Japanese plum cultivars blossomed almost two weeks earlier than European plum cultivars.
This characteristic exposes them to the risk of late spring frosts which usually appear until mid-April.
Japanese plum cultivars also proved a higher susceptibility to Monilinia than the European plums.
Even if the fruit crop is quite similar for both species (above 15 kg tree-1 seven years after planting) and fruit size is larger in the case of Japanese plum cultivars, our experiment recommends the European cultivars for industrial growing.
Authors
M. Butac, M. Militaru, E. Chitu, C. Plopa, M. Sumedrea, D. Sumedrea
Keywords
Prunus domestica L., Prunus salicina Lindl., yield, fruit quality, diseases
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