Najar Zahid Hussain, Kashtwari Mahpara, Zargar Showkat A., Wani Aijaz A.
Keywords:
Fruit quality, Cluster analysis, PCA, North Kashmir
Cultivated apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) is amongst the most important fruit crops grown commercially in temperate zones of the world. It is a dominant fruit crop in the Kashmir valley and forms the backbone of the rural economy in the region. The present investigation was aimed at studying the morphological and pomological variability of 66 apple genotypes in the North Kashmir region for three consecutive years (2017–2019). Regarding the important fruit quality traits, fruit weight ranged between 18.46 g and 233.97 g, whereas the genotypes of UOK 104, Chemura, Lal Ambri, and Red Gravenstein produced the largest fruits. The most prominent fruit shape was Globose, with Medium Red being the most frequent over color. Harvesting period was late in majority of the studied genotypes. Moreover, among the biochemical traits, the total soluble solids varied between 10.23 °Brix and 16.00 °Brix, whereas, the pH ranged from 2.21 to 4.78. Significant correlation was observed among majority of the studied agronomic traits. Principal Component Analysis, revealing 76.78% of the variations was defined by first twelve components. Both dendrogram and PCA clustered the genotypes into two main groups with varied fruit and leaf dimensions. The present study revealed a group of 14 well-known genotypes besides three unknown/unnamed genotypes (UOK 104, UOK 105, UOK 107) having high fruit dimensions which can be treated as superior genotypes. The current investigation, therefore, would prove promising for the identification of the apple germplasm with desirable fruit quality traits useful for future apple breeding programs and commercialization purpose.
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Zahid Hussain acknowledges financial support from University Grants Commission, New Delhi India for providing teacher fellowship for carrying out the study as a part of Ph.D. study under Letter No 27-14 (TF)/2016 (NRCB dated Feb, 3, 2017). The authors would like to thank Director Horticulture Kashmir Division and various orchardists for their necessary permission and support during field surveys and collection of samples materials necessary for the study.