Evaluation of feijoa hybrid forms (Feijoa sellowiana Berg) according to productivity and fruit quality

Abstract

The years of studying feijoa plants cultivated in the humid subtropics of the Krasnodar Territory have shown the necessity for selection of forms from seed populations with different maturity of fruits, high yields and high fruit quality. Seven promising forms have been evaluated primarily. After observation the growth dynamics of shoots B-13 for has been selected with an active growth. The average shoots length has reached 22,8 cm by the end of the growing season. Assessment of fruit cast have shown that the largest percentage of active ovaries is found in B-13 form and “Dagomysskaya” variety and (17%).

Assessment of harvesting period has revealed early ripening forms (II-III decade of September – I decade of October), they include 4-10, 12-5, 13-11, IIIB-1 forms; mid-ripening forms (II-III decade of October – I decade of November) are 10-22, B-13 and late-ripening forms are 6-24, the fruits of which ripen from the 3rd decade of November till the 1st decade of December. Form B-13 has been selected as a high-yielding one: 19,2 kg / bush, and a large-fruited one – average fruits weigh 96,0 g. The forms of 4-10, B-13 have been selected according to sugar content, with 9,70 % and 8,12 % of sugar respectively. The forms of 6-24, 12-5 and B-13 are observed to contain more monosaccharides than sucrose. Two forms of 4-10 and B-13 have been selected as the best in taste with the highest percentage of monosaccharides, in particular, fructose, which gives the fruits the “sweet taste”.

The fruits of form 12-5 are characterized by a highest content of vitamin “C” –75,68 mg%. Forms of 4-10 and 12-5 have the highest sugar-acid ratio which is 5,5 and 5,0, respectively, and the lowest ratio is observed in forms of 6-24 and 10-22 – 2,9 and 3,0, respectively.