RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SEED FORMATION AND FRUIT CHARACTERISTICS IN NEW PERSIMMON CULTIVARS, 'JAMISI' AND 'MIGAMJOSAENG'

New persimmon cultivars, ‘Jamisi’ and ‘Migamjosaeng’, have recently been released in Korea. Since their fruits have the pollination variant non-astringent trait, the seeds inevitably affect fruit quality. In this study, relationship between seed formation and fruit characteristics of ‘Migamjosaeng’, ‘Jamisi’ and ‘Nishimura-wase’ (control) was evaluated in three orchards with different cultural environments in Jinju, Changwon, and Gimhae districts, Gyeongnam Province. The largest variance of fruit weight was found in ‘Migamjosaeng’, as affected by different cultural conditions. Although difference of seed number was not great, de-astringency rate was markedly lower in ‘Migamjosaeng’. When a fruit contained 3 to 4 seeds, de-astringency rate was 93 and 94% in ‘Jamisi’ and ‘Nishimura-wase’, respectively, while it was 56.3% in ‘Migamjosaeng’. The seed number per fruit was significantly related to the degree of de-astringency. Skin color was related to seed numbers for the two new cultivars, suggesting that increasing seeds of fruits in the cultivars could increase coloration as well as de-astringency. In conclusion, since de-astringency rate could be less in the new cultivars, especially in ‘Migamjosaeng’, careful management involving better pollination should be applied.