The chemical compositions and quality of fruits in Chaenomeles breeding forms in the southern coast of the Crimea

The Chaenomeles gene pool of the Nikita Botanical Gardens has about 450 genotypes originating from Chaenomeles japonica, C. speciosa and C. × superba. They mostly represent a seed progeny of certain cultivars or breeding forms. For selection of promising genotypes the basic morphometric parameters and chemical composition of the fruits, as well as the fruit ripening period and yield have been studied. The long-term collected data showed a high phenotypic diversity of the assessments. It has been found that, among the genotypes selected for the study, there are plants with valuable pomological qualities. Thus, P-1-3, PX 7-11 and P-8-3 are allocated for fruit weight (60-88 g), the first two forms are characterized by a greater thickness of mezocarp. The fruits of all the investigated genotypes are rich in biologically active substances. The fruits of P-8-3, PX-8-5a and PX-5-19 contain the greatest amount of ascorbic acid (up to 298.65 mg 100 g^-1). The highest amount of proanthocyanidins (792 mg 100 g^-1) was found in the PX-5-19 fruits and flavonols (15.6 mg 100 g^-1) NDASH in PX-8-15. At the sum of phenolic compounds in fruits (100 to 1080 mg g^-1) the P-8-3 and PX-8-15 are allocated. The P-1-3 is characterized by the highest sugar-acid index (1.57) and genotype P-7-1 is close to it with regards to this indicator. The earliest fruit ripening was observed in late August, the latest one in the third decade of September. All breeding forms are characterized by a medium or high yield. On the most large-fruited genotypes P-1-3, PX-7-11, P-8-3 as well as the P-1-11 with an optimum combination of biologically active substances a selection was made for complex traits. They showed a high degree of adaptation to the conditions of the southern coast of the Crimea and can be recommended for testing in production conditions.