Characteristics of the Fruit Epidermis of Some Sweet Cherry Cultivars

The fruit cuticle and epidermis play an important role in fruit cracking of the sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.). This study examines certain characteristics of the epidermal layers of the fruit skin of some sweet cherry cultivars. The experiment was conducted on one well-known and 8 local sweet cherry cultivars, namely 'Van', 'Husenba', 'Tabamyarik', 'Kargayuregi', 'Hafizahmet', 'Eraslama', 'Gecaslama' 'Karakirtik-1' and 'Karakirtik-2'. The thickness of the cuticle, epidermis and sub-epidermis and the number of sub-epidermal cell layers were measured under a light microscope. In all cultivars, cuticle thickness varied from 2.63 to 3.60 mu m. The fruit of 'Tabamyarik' had the thickest cuticle. Cuticle thickness, thickness of epidermal layers and number of sub-epidermal cell layers were different in cultivars having different levels of cracking susceptibility, but these differences were not related to fruit cracking.