PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND SENSORY CHARACTERISTICS OF PROMISING PLUM (Prunus domestica L.) GENOTYPES BRED AT FRUIT RESEARCH INSTITUTE, CACAK

Five plum hybrids (38/62/70, IV/63/81, 32/21/87, 34/41/87 and 22/17/87) and newly released cultivar 'Nada', obtained by planned hybridisation and singled out within breeding programme at Fruit Research Institute, Cacak, were assessed for the main physical (fruit and stone weight and flesh percentage), chemical (soluble solids content, total and inverted sugars content, sucrose content, total acids content, pH value of fruit juice, ratio of soluble solids and total acids content and ratio of total sugars and total acids content) and sensorial (attractiveness, taste, aroma and consistency) traits compared with the standard cultivar 'Cacanska Lepotica'. Results showed that the studied plum genotypes differed significantly in all of the assessed traits. Regarding the physical features, the best results were shown by hybrid 38/62/70, which had the highest fruit weight (56.92 g) and flesh percentage (96.91%), as well as by the new cultivar 'Nada', for which a larger fruit was observed in comparison to the standard (45.54 g and 42.24 g, respectively). Also, 'Nada' had better sensorial properties such as attractiveness, taste, aroma and consistency in relation to the other promising hybrids and the standard cultivar. From the aspect of all the studied sensorial characteristics, in addition to 'Nada', only hybrid 38/62/70 was aligned with the standard cultivar. Out of the studied genotypes, late ripening hybrid 22/17/87 had the best values of parameters of fruit chemical composition such as the soluble solids content (17.01%), total and inverted sugars contents (12.31% and 8.96%, respectively). The highest sucrose content (3.39%), pH value of fruit juice (3.51), as well as the highest ratio between soluble solids and total acids content (43.72) and ratio between total sugars and total acids content (32.58) were found in cultivar 'Nada'. The highest total acids content (1.42%) was recorded in hybrid 32/21/87. Compared to 'Cacanska Lepotica', the same or better results in terms of the fruit chemical composition were determined in cultivar 'Nada' and hybrids 34/41/87 and 22/17/87. The study revealed existence of significant correlations between individual studied parameters of the fruit physical, chemical and sensorial properties.