The effect of crop year on fruit weight and internal quality characteristics of selected plum cultivars in the Újfehértó Fruit Gene Bank

Abstract

The competitiveness of the plum sector in Hungary has gradually declined over the past decade, and the area under cultivation has been steadily decreasing. In contrast, plum production has increased at the European Union level. The main causes of the domestic decline include the disappearance of plantations, severe frost damage following mild winters, and extremely dry weather conditions. Plums from the Balkans are gradually displacing Hungarian plums from the European market. In recent years, climate change, labour shortages, and increasing input costs have posed significant challenges to the sector. Therefore, research related to plum cultivation is essential to improve the market position of the plum industry. In this study, we examined plum cultivars from the gene bank collection of the Research Institute of the University of Debrecen, AKIT Újfehértó, as follows:

Evaluation of the quality characteristics and fruit traits of the selected plum cultivars, Investigation of the effects of different years on the quality characteristics of the selected cultivars, Determination of correlations among the quality traits of the plum cultivars.