ABstrAct:In the course of a 3-year study the natural occurrence of storage diseases in ambient air storage with 1 to 2°C was evaluated on samples of 30 cultivars and advanced selections that were harvested from orchards with and without the use of fungicide treatments. Based upon the frequency of occurrence, bitter rot and grey mould were the most common diseases in this study followed by blue mould and brown rot. Fungicide treatments applied in the orchard with integrated plant protection reduced total fruit rotting with different cultivars two to four times. Significant losses caused by rotting usually took place in the last quarter of the normal storage life of each cultivar, but in the case of samples treated with fungicides it was mostly during the last month. Cultivars Angold, Gala, Florina, Melodie and Meteor proved to be partially resistant to the storage diseases, but the smallest shares of rotted fruits were recorded on apples of Zuzana and Melrose. Still, five advanced selections proved not to be so affected by fruit rotting as Melrose and Zuzana, from which HL 237 and HL 390 were the most remarkable. The majority of selections with resistance to storage diseases as well as Zuzana cv. contain Glockenapfel cv. in their pedigree.

 In an orchard trial that was established in the spring of 1999 on M 9 rootstock at the spacing of 4 × 1 m, eleven new apple cultivars bred in Holovousy (Angold, Julia, Nabella, Primadela, Produkta, Resista, Rubinstep, Rucla, Selena, Vysočina and Zuzana) were evaluated in comparison with three standard varieties (Gala, Golden Delicious and Jonagold) and another two with resistance to scab (Rosana and Topaz). In the first three years, the incidence of scab and mildew was evaluated under limited chemical protection. In 2000–2005 on each of 10 randomly selected trees of each cultivar, the time of flowering and optimum harvest ripening were recorded, flower set and fruit sets were rated, yield per tree and weight of 10 fruit samples were measured. Trunk diameter was measured between 2002 and 2005. The early summer apple Julia had the healthiest state and it was recommended for organic growing. Selena was the most precocious, the least vigorous and had the highest crop efficiency. The highest annual yields per tree were recorded with Produkta, but this cultivar had the highest proportion of trees with biennial bearing. Primadela achieved the highest cumulative yields, whereas Angold brought the largest fruits on average. With the obtained results, the evaluated cultivars were characterised by some important features or recommendations for growers.  

Blažek J., Paprštein F., Zelený L., Křelinová J. (2015): Results of public tastings of apple novelties at the end of the storage seasons during the last 10 years. Hort. Sci. (Prague), 42: 53-60.From a total number of 62 apple samples included in this study, 42 cultivars or selections were evaluated after storing in standard conditions, and the remaining 20 in ultra low oxygen (ULO) storing conditions. The top leader regarding total taste quality was cv. Meteor, which obtained the highest total scoring value, and also in the mean sequence it was the number one cultivar. In the following position with regard to the total fruit quality was cv. King Jonagold. In a decreasing sequence of total fruit quality, the cultivars were classified in the following order: Rosabel, Andera, Angold, Berta and Meteor stored in ULO. In the case of fruit taste alone, Gold Bohemia was the total leader. Followed by cvs Rubinola and Andera. Regarding the character of the taste, cv. King Jonagold was relatively the sweetest, closely followed by cvs Pinova and Goldstar. On the opposite spectrum, with relatively the most acidic taste, were cvs Jonagold, Topaz and Rubin, all of which were stored in ULO conditions. Regarding fruit appearance cv. Melrose was evaluated as the most attractive looking apple. It was followed in this characteristic by the novelty cv. HL 212. Next in sequence were cvs Šampion (ULO), Benet, Gala Must (ULO), Angold and Andera.

Several characteristics related to tree growth, their fruitage and resistance against scab and powdery mildew were assessed during 2007–2008 on five new cultivars in comparison with the ancestral McIntosh Wijcik, in which 4 out of 5 had their pedigree. In several plots established between 1998 and 2006, the trees, which were on different rootstocks predominantly planted in spacing 4 × 0.5 m, were grown as vertical cordons practically without any pruning or shaping. Besides the first years after the planting these columnar trees generated very limited side branching. The cultivars mutually differ in tree vigour, spurring density, and size of fruiting spurs. Mean annual prolongation of central axes in the case of the trees on vigorous rootstocks varied within 30.8–57.5 cm, however, on M 9 rootstock it was distinctly shorter (23.4–34.1 cm). Beyond cultivar and rootstock the length of the annual prolongation was also significantly influenced by fruit set level. Trees of the Kordona cultivar were generally the most vigorous while those of Pidi were the weakest. The biennial pattern of bearing observed to an extent on nearly all the cultivars was connected with tendency to over-crop the trees. The highest annual yield equal to 10.3 kg was generated on trees of Kordona on MM 106, which corresponds to a total harvest of 25.7 t/ha. Cultivars Herald and Slendera possessed combined resistance both to scab and powdery mildew, whereas Kordona and Cumulus were resistant only to scab, but were in different degrees susceptible to mildew.

The results from 23 tasting sessions of experienced evaluators that took place during the last decade in May are presented in 4 periods which lasted 5 years except for the first one, which was seven-years long. The winner of the first testing period was ‘Bohemia’, ‘Meteor’ was the winner of the second period and ‘Admiral’ was the top rated in the remaining two testing periods. Across all the years, ‘Meteor’ had the highest total punctual value, but it was only about 0.4 points higher than ‘Admiral’. In the next sequence, they were followed by the cultivars ‘Andera’, ‘Rubin’ and ‘Andego’. In the aroma evaluation, ‘Andera’, ‘Gold Bohemia’ and ‘Topaz’ were the best. ‘Admiral’, ‘Gold Bohemia’ and ‘Andera’ were the top rated in flesh consistency. ‘Admiral’, ‘Angold’ and ‘Andera’ were the best in juiciness. ‘Gold Bohemia’, ‘Admiral’ and ‘Meteor’ had the highest values of the general taste. ‘Admiral’, ‘Angold’ and ‘Meteor’ were the most attractive.