Adaptability of ‘Royal Glory’ and ‘Caldesi 2000’ to different environmental conditions

Abstract

The adaptability of two peach cultivars (‘Royal Glory’ and ‘Caldesi 2000’) to different environmental conditions in four localities in Serbia (Grocka, Rača, Niš and Bela Crkva) was examined during the two-year period (2020-2021). Cultivar significantly influenced the variation of fruit weight, stone weight, flesh rate, soluble solids content, total acid content and the ratio of total sugar content and total acid content (TSC/TAC). For most traits, significant differences were observed among the localities, while the year had a significant impact only on the variation of fruit weight, stone weight and flowering time. The response of cultivars to climatic conditions was different, which could be explained by differences in genotype stability. A greater effect of climatic factors on the studied traits was found in ‘Royal Glory’ cultivar. In this cultivar, significant correlations were found between temperatures and fruit weight and flesh rate. Total precipitation was significantly correlated with fruit weight and total acid content. In ‘Caldesi 2000’ cultivar, significant correlations were found between total precipitation and fruit weight and TSC/TAC ratio. Four principal components with eigenvalues higher than 1, were obtained from principal component analysis (PCA). Traits with higher scores on PC1 are stone weight, soluble solids content, total sugar content and TSC/TAC. The highest contribution of PC2 corresponded to total acid content, flowering time and fruit development period. The PCA showed that peach cultivars were differentiated according to stability to climatic conditions. ‘Royal Glory’ was homogenously distributed, while ‘Caldesi 2000’ cultivar was dispersed on scatter plot. The obtained results showed the importance of cultivar adaptability testing before recommendation for planting in a particular region. © 2022 International Society for Horticultural Science. All rights reserved.