Suitability of new plum genotypes developed in Čačak for processing into plum spirit

Considering the presence of numerous autochthonous cultivars in the plum assortment providing high-quality plum spirit, breeding work in Serbia has not included developing plum cultivars for plum spirit production. With regard to the utilization of fruit, the goals of plum breeding at the Fruit Research Institute, Čačak are developing plum cultivars suitable for fresh consumption, drying and other processing methods. Some of the developed cultivars have also proven to be a very suitable raw material for production of plum spirit, which is particularly important in the years when there is no big demand for plums intended for other ways of processing. The aim of this work was, based on the two-year examinations, to assess suitability of some newly released plum cultivars (‘Mildora’ and ‘Nada’) and hybrid (‘22/17/87’) for processing into plum spirit, in comparison with standard cultivars (‘Čačanska Rodna’, ‘Valjevka’). Yields, major volatile components (methanol, 6 higher alcohols, ethyl acetate, acetaldehyde, benzaldehyde) and sensory characteristics of traditionally produced plum spirits from the examined genotypes were shown. The highest plum spirit yields were obtained from cultivar ‘Mildora’ and hybrid ‘22/17/87’, whereas the lowest yields came from cultivars ‘Nada’ and ‘Valjevka’. The lowest contents of methanol were found in plum spirits obtained from hybrid ‘22/17/87’. In both years, high sensory grades (>18.01 points, gold medals) had plum spirits of cultivar ‘Valjevka’ (18.33 and 18.15) and hybrid ‘22/17/87’ (18.04 and 18.17). Harvest year significantly influenced whether the grade of produced plum spirit would be higher or lower than 18.01 (gold medal ≥ 18.01 > silver medal) in cultivars ‘Mildora’ (17.92 and 18.29) and ‘Čačanska Rodna’ (17.83 and 18.11). Plum spirit obtained from cultivar ‘Nada’, in both years, was graded lower than 18.01 points (17.90 and 17.81, silver medals).