SELECTION AND FIELD EVALUATION OF THREE NEW CULTIVARS OF LEMON IN THE SOUTH-EAST OF SPAIN

South-east of Spain is the major exporter of lemon for the fresh market. ‘Fino’ is the main group of lemon varieties with more than 80% of the total production. To continue leading the international lemon market is necessary to incorporate new varieties which improve fruit quality and diversify supply. Three new selections of lemon have been evaluated in a citrus breeding program at IMIDA: ‘Finolate’, ‘Fino Callosa’, and ‘Garpo’, that were compared with ‘Fino 49’, the most widespread lemon variety in this region. These varieties were originated by spontaneous mutation. The agronomic evaluation indicated that ‘Fino Callosa’ entered into production earlier than ‘Fino 49’ and had the highest accumulated yield. In addition, all new lemon selections produced bigger and heavier fruits, allowing earlier harvest than ‘Fino 49’. In addition, these new lemon cultivars had less juice content, but the quality of the juice was better than ‘Fino 49’. ‘Garpo’ produced fruits more yellow than ‘Fino 49’. Based on these preliminary results, ‘Fino Callosa’ was more productive and ‘Garpo’ had better rind color than ‘Fino 49’, and could be a possible alternative to ‘Fino 49’ cultivar.