QUALITY ORIENTED BREEDING USING SENSORY ATTRIBUTES IN MELON: THE CASE OF CLIMACTERIC AND NON-CLIMACTERIC NEAR-ISOGENIC LINES OBTAINED FROM NON-CLIMACTERIC PARENTS

The sensory attributes of eight near-isogenic lines (NILs) of melon were studied.
The NILs contained different chromosome introgressions in the linkage group III from the non-climacteric exotic Korean accession PI 161375 transferred into the genetic background of the non-climacteric Spanish cultivar ‘Piel de Sapo’ (PS). The discrimination of NILs according to their climacteric behaviour was studied using different techniques of multivariate statistics.
The objective of this study was to obtain information about the location of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) responsible for the sensory traits valued by melon consumers.
This information will allow the develop¬ment of new cultivars in the future by transferring QTLs to elite cultivars.
The NILs with most pronounced climacteric behaviour were clearly separated from the non-climacteric ones by a triangle test.
Overall, the taste and overall quality of the fruit were highly correlated in a paired test.
The climacteric NILs had higher aroma scores than PS, but lower texture, taste and overall quality scores, which was due to the different aroma profile of the NILs compared with the traditional PS, and to the softening induced by the climacteric behaviour.
Some of the multivariate statistics, such as partial least square discriminant analysis, linear discriminant analysis or random forest analysis, were particularly useful for discriminating NILs according to the intensity of their climacteric behaviour.

XXVIII International Horticultural Congress on Science and Horticulture for People (IHC2010): International Symposium on Postharvest Technology in the Global Market

J.P. Fernández-Trujillo, M.C. Bueso, M.S. Hernández

Cucumis melo, physiological behaviour, postharvest fruit quality, flavor

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2012.934.130