Articles
Characteristics of European and Asian pear cultivars and pear hybrids compared to production potential under South Moravian conditions
Article number
1449_60
Pages
443 – 448
Language
English
Abstract
Commercial cultivation of Asian pears and pear hybrids is not yet very common in Central Europe.
The pear species can be well hybridized with each other, and the results so far indicate that there is great potential in the cultivation of interspecific hybrids.
The purpose of this study is to compare the characteristics of commonly grown European pear cultivars with Asian cultivars, hybrids and new hybrids bred at the Institute of Fruit Growing in Lednice.
At first sight, the Asian pears differ in shape from the European ones.
Compared to European pears, they are much juicier, but at the same time less aromatic.
They often have a bitter skin which adversely affects the overall taste.
Some Asian cultivars have a strong tendency to overbear.
Twenty promising cultivars and hybrids were selected for comparison and evaluated for flowering and ripening dates, fruit weight, appearance, flavour, juiciness, and pulp aroma.
Total soluble solids (refractometer), firmness (penetrometer), and titratable acids content were also determined.
The heaviest fruits were those of ‘Kieffer’ (339 g on average), while the lowest weight was those of strongly overbearing ‘Nanguo’ (50 g on average). The sweetest fruit was from the interspecific hybrid ‘Wu Jiu Xiang’ (18.9% of total soluble solids), which also placed second in acidity (0.4% of total titratable acids). Compared with the cultivars, some of the new hybrids were well above average in the acid content (more than 0.7% of total titratable acids). The results of firmness showed that the thinnest skin was that of the Chinese ‘Zao Su Li’, pierced by a pressure of 0.53 kg cm‑2, while the thickest skin was that of the European (Czech cultivar) ‘Bohemica’ (1.48 kg cm‑2).
The pear species can be well hybridized with each other, and the results so far indicate that there is great potential in the cultivation of interspecific hybrids.
The purpose of this study is to compare the characteristics of commonly grown European pear cultivars with Asian cultivars, hybrids and new hybrids bred at the Institute of Fruit Growing in Lednice.
At first sight, the Asian pears differ in shape from the European ones.
Compared to European pears, they are much juicier, but at the same time less aromatic.
They often have a bitter skin which adversely affects the overall taste.
Some Asian cultivars have a strong tendency to overbear.
Twenty promising cultivars and hybrids were selected for comparison and evaluated for flowering and ripening dates, fruit weight, appearance, flavour, juiciness, and pulp aroma.
Total soluble solids (refractometer), firmness (penetrometer), and titratable acids content were also determined.
The heaviest fruits were those of ‘Kieffer’ (339 g on average), while the lowest weight was those of strongly overbearing ‘Nanguo’ (50 g on average). The sweetest fruit was from the interspecific hybrid ‘Wu Jiu Xiang’ (18.9% of total soluble solids), which also placed second in acidity (0.4% of total titratable acids). Compared with the cultivars, some of the new hybrids were well above average in the acid content (more than 0.7% of total titratable acids). The results of firmness showed that the thinnest skin was that of the Chinese ‘Zao Su Li’, pierced by a pressure of 0.53 kg cm‑2, while the thickest skin was that of the European (Czech cultivar) ‘Bohemica’ (1.48 kg cm‑2).
Publication
Authors
J. Fiala, T. Nečas
Keywords
Pyrus, Nashi, pomology, phenology, fruit quality, pear breeding
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