Screening of Physicochemical and Bioactive Traits of New Cherry Cultivars Obtained from the Cross of ‘Ambrunés’ × ‘Hudson’

Abstract

Although the cherry already has an excellent bioactive profile, the implementation of breeding programs is a valuable tool to enhance it further. Thus, a breeding program was conducted on ‘Picota’ type cherries (the ‘Ambrunés’ cultivar, in particular) by crossing them with the ‘Hudson’ cultivar, with the primary aim of obtaining new cherry cultivars that enhance the overall quality traits of the parental cultivars, but above all that increase the concentration of phenolic compounds, which are of significant relevance to human health, providing greater added value for the consumer. The fruits obtained from new cultivars were tested for their physicochemical profiles, phenolic compounds profile, and antioxidant activity. The obtained data were statistically analyzed by applying ANOVA and hierarchical cluster analysis. After screening these data, three new cultivars were found that maintain the physicochemical profile of ‘Ambrunés’ but enhance their phenolic compound content and could, therefore, be interesting cultivars to be used as parents in new cross-breeding.

Keywords

• sweet cherry
• breeding program
• phytochemicals
• antioxidant properties
• hierarchical cluster analysis