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An Overview of Croatian Autochthonous Varieties of Sweet Cherry
An Overview of Croatian Autochthonous Varieties of Sweet Cherry
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An Overview of Croatian Autochthonous Varieties of Sweet Cherry
A. Vokurkaa, K. Pra and I. Peji Z. Jurkovi and K. Dugali
Dept. for Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biometrics Agricultural Institute Osijek
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb Osijek
Zagreb Croatia
Croatia
B. Duralija M. Brajan
Dept. for Pomology County Administration of
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb Primorsko-goranska County
Zagreb Rijeka
Croatia Croatia
Abstract
Production of sweet cherry in Croatia of both local autochthonous and world
varieties is mainly non-intensive, limited to small orchards and gardens. There are
just a few intensive producers of sweet cherry using contemporary production
principles. However, interest for sweet cherry production is increasing and new
producers are interested in growing autochthonous varieties. There are seven local
sweet cherry varieties known in Croatia. Their production is limited to certain geo-
graphic areas where they are traditionally produced and where they have premium
quality. These varieties are named according to toponyms of the region of their
production (village, mountain or island). There is little scientific data about these
varieties and it is unclear whether these varieties are really native, or they might have
been introduced more than one-hundred years ago, and then spread by local names
afterwards. This paper gives the description of autochthonous sweet cherry varieties
in Croatia according to IPGRI descriptors, estimates their production potential, and
sets up guidelines for further research of biodiversity in sweet cherries.
INTRODUCTION
The production of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) in Croatia has been limited to
small orchards and solitary trees for long time. That type of production did not have
economic significance and the principles of production were traditional. Plant material of
self-compatible varieties has been produced in nursery mother blocks, but until recently
few producers were interested in commercial sweet cherry production.
Sweet cherry is a preferred seasonal fruit, coming early in the summer when only
strawberries are important in market competition. In spite of the high prices sweet
cherries can command, the production in Croatia has remained rather low with a
production of 5,020 tons in 2005, 5,014 tons in 2006, and 7,976 tons in 2007 (FAOstat,
2009). Unlike sour cherries, statistical bulletins of the Republic of Croatia do not consider
sweet cherry as a separate agricultural commodity.
Croatia has several autochthonous varieties, which are produced in certain
geographical regions of Croatia, and these varieties are known by names according to
toponyms: village varieties (Tugarka and Gomilika), town varieties (Lovranska and
Stonska), mountain variety (Okika) or island variety (Creska) where their
production takes place. These varieties are important from the point of view of genetic
resource conservation, as they possess many positive traits that are also the starting point
for clonal selection and breeding work.
The literature covering these varieties was very scarce until recently when many
new reports were published, mainly on three varieties from Dalmatia (Tugarka,
a
Email: [email protected].
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A serious drawback of uncontrolled propagation (as traditionally has been done) is
the spreading of viral diseases by grafts. Present sanitary status of autochthonous varieties
is unknown and it should be checked by ELISA test. If viruses are present, it will be
necessary to produce virus-free material using in vitro sanitation methods.
Finally, the S-alleles of these varieties need to be identified using PCR methods
(Sonneveld et al., 2003; Wnsch and Hormaza, 2004). This will guide the choice of the
most appropriate pollinators which have overlapping flowering time and a compatible S-
allele structure.
CONCLUSIONS
Further research regarding Croatian autochthonous varieties should take the
following directions:
1) All Croatian autochthonous varieties of sweet cherry have an important role in
traditional production, but this is limited to particular (small) geographic areas. At the
same time, they have high potential for commercial production in other regions of
Croatia.
2) These varieties should be genotyped using SSR markers in order to identify their DNA
profile for comparison with available results of other varieties.
3) All the varieties confirmed to be unique should be clonally propagated, grafted on
standard rootstocks (Gisela 5, Colt or MaxMa 14), and planted in a newly established
collection orchards. The orchards should also contain several well-known standard
varieties, enabling appropriate evaluation, description and comparison.
4) Sanitary status of all autochthonous varieties should be checked by ELISA test before
propagation. Propagation should be done only if virus-free material is detected, or after
undertaking appropriate sanitation measures.
5) S-alleles in autochthonous varieties should be identified by PCR in order to narrow the
choice of appropriate pollinators.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to the Agricultural Institute Osijek for supporting attendance at the
conference, for Dr. Snjeana Bolari who provided technical help and advising. Thanks to
the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia for funding the
project no. 073-1781844-1930.
Literature Cited
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printing of tetraploid cherry germplasm using simple sequence repeats. J. Amer. Soc.
Hort. Sci. 126:205-209.
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isolation, characterisation and cross-species amplification in Prunus. Theor. Appl.
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Symposium on Agriculture, Opatija, Croatia, 17-20 Feb. p.779.
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and Laigret, F. 2002. Development of microsatellite markers in peach [Prunus persica
(L.) Batsch] and their use in genetic diversity analysis in peach and sweet cherry
(Prunus avium L.). Theor. Appl. Genet. 105:127-138.
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Pedersen, B.H. 2006. DNA fingerprints of 51 sweet and sour Prunus accessions using
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on Agriculture. Opatija, Croatia.
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trenje uzgajanih u Dalmaciji. Pomologia Croatica 14(3):159-168.
Sonneveld, T., Tobutt, K.R. and Robbins, T.P. 2003. Allele-specific PCR detection of
sweet cherry self-incompatibility (S) alleles S1 to S16 using consensus and allele
specific primers. Theor. Appl. Genet. 107:1057-1070.
Schmidt, H., Vittrup-Christensen, J., Watkins, R. and Smith, R.A. (eds.). 1985. Cherry
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Testolin, R., Marrazzo, T., Cipriani, G., Quarta, R., Verde, I., Dettori, M.T., Pancaldi, M.
and Sansavini, S. 2000. Microsatellite DNA in peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch) and
its use in fingerprinting and testing the genetic origin of cultivars. Genome 43:512-
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Tables
Table 1. Varieties evaluated, the climate of the growing region in Croatia, rootstock and
the approximate age of the trees.
Age of the
Variety Location Climate Rootstock trees (years)
Creska Island of Cres Mediterranean P. mahaleb 20
Lovranska Towns: Opatija and Mediterranean Colt 10
Lovran
Gomilika Region of Katela Mediterranean P. mahaleb 30
Stonska Region of Katela Mediterranean P. mahaleb 30
Tugarka Region of Katela Mediterranean P. mahaleb 30
Okika Mountain: Continental P. avium 70
Samoborsko gorje
Kutjevaka Towns: Continental P. avium 20
Osijek, Kutjevo
404
Table 2. Descriptors evaluated for all autochthonous varieties in Croatia.
Variety
Descriptor
Creska Lovranska Gomilika Stonska
2. Tree: vigor (1-9) strong (7) medium (5) medium (5) medium (5)
3. Tree: habit (1-9) spreading (7) semi-upright (5) semi-upright (5) semi-upright (5)
4. Tree: branching (3-7) medium (5) medium (5) medium (5) medium (5)
5. One-year-old shoot: no. of lenticels (3-7) medium (5) medium (5) medium (5) few (3)
8. Leaf blade: length (3-7) medium (5) medium (5) medium (5) medium (5)
9. Leaf blade: width (3-7) medium (5) medium (5) broad (7) medium (5)
10. Leaf blade: ratio length / width (3-7) medium (5) medium (5) small (3) small (3)
12. Leaf: length of petiole (3-7) medium (5) long (7) medium (5) medium (3)
14. Petiole: nectaries (1,9) present (1) present (1) present (1) present (1)
15. Petiole: color of nectaries (1-5) light red (3) dark red (4) dark red (4) light red (3)
19. Fruit: size (1-9) large (7) medium (5) large (7) large (7)
20. Fruit: shape (1-5) cordate (5) oblong (4) oblong (4) circular (3)
21. Fruit: pistil end (1-3) pointed (1) flat (2) pointed (1) depressed (3)
22. Fruit: color of skin 1-8) red (5) red (5) dark red (7) dark red (7)
23. Fruit: size of lenticels on skin (3-7) large (7) medium (5) small (3) small (3)
24. Fruit: number of lenticels on skin (3-7) many (7) few (3) few (3) few (3)
25. Fruit: color of juice pink (3) red (4) red (4) pink (3)
26. Fruit: color of flesh (1-5) yellow (2) cream white (1) cream white (1) yellow (2)
27. Fruit: firmness (3-7) firm (7) medium (5) soft (3) firm (7)
28. Fruit: acidity (1-9) very low (1) low (3) low (3) low (3)
29. Fruit: sweetness (3-7) medium (5) medium (5) medium (5) medium (5)
30. Fruit: juiciness (3-7) medium (5) medium (5) strong (7) medium (5)
31. Fruit: length of pedicel (1-9) long (7) long (7) long (7) long (7)
33. Fruit: thickness of pedicel (3-7) medium (5) thin (3) medium (5) medium (5)
34. Stone: size (3-7) medium (5) small (3) small (3) medium (5)
36. Stone: size relative to fruit small (3) medium (5) small (3) medium (5)
38. Time of fruit maturity (1-9) late (7) medium (5) very early (1) late (7)
(continued)
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Variety
Descriptor
Tugarka Okika Kutjevaka
2. Tree: vigor (1-9) strong (7) weak (3) strong (7)
3. Tree: habit (1-9) spreading (7) upright (3) spreading(7)
4. Tree: branching (3-7) strong (7) medium (5) medium (5)
5. One-year-old shoot: no. of lenticels (3-7) few (3) medium (5) few (3)
8. Leaf blade: length (3-7) long (7) short (3) medium (5)
9. Leaf blade: width (3-7) narrow (3) broad (7) medium (5)
10. Leaf blade: ratio length / width (3-7) large (7) medium (5) medium (5)
12. Leaf: length of petiole (3-7) long (7) medium (3) long (7)
14. Petiole: nectaries (1,9) present (1) present (1) present (1)
15. Petiole: color of nectaries (1-5) light red (3) dark red (4) light red (3)
19. Fruit: size (1-9) large (7) small (3) large (7)
20. Fruit: shape (1-5) cordate (5) cordate (5) cordate (5)
21. Fruit: pistil end (1-3) flat (2) depressed (3) pointed (1)
22. Fruit: color of skin 1-8) red (5) brown red (6) red (5)
23. Fruit: size of lenticels on skin (3-7) medium (5) small (3) large (7)
24. Fruit: number of lenticels on skin (3-7) many (7) many (7) medium (5)
25. Fruit: color of juice pink (3) red (4) pink (3)
26. Fruit: color of flesh (1-5) yellow (2) red (4) yellow (2)
27. Fruit: firmness (3-7) firm (7) firm (7) medium (5)
28. Fruit: acidity (1-9) low (3) low (3) low (3)
29. Fruit: sweetness (3-7) medium (5) high (7) medium (5)
30. Fruit: juiciness (3-7) medium (5) medium (5) medium (5)
31. Fruit: length of pedicel (1-9) long (7) medium (5) medium (5)
33. Fruit: thickness of pedicel (3-7) medium (5) thin (3) medium (5)
34. Stone: size (3-7) small (3) small (3) medium (5)
36. Stone: size relative to fruit small (3) small (3) medium (5)
38. Time of fruit maturity (1-9) late (7) very late (9) late (7)
406