The Main Morphological Characteristics and Chemical Components of Fruits and the Possibilities of Their Improvement in Raspberry Breeding

Abstract

Raspberry is a delicious fruit with important nutritional and health properties for consumers. The efficiency of achieving raspberry breeding aims such as productivity, fruit quality, and adequate response to stressors, etc., depends directly on knowledge of the inheritance of traits and genetic factors of influence and their pragmatic use. In this study, the main morphological characteristics and chemical components of fruits of 24 raspberry genotypes were studied in a comparative field trial; 14 were promising selections and the other 10 included their parental forms (Autumn Bliss, Glen Moy, Glen Prosen, Opal, Pathfinder, Titan, Tulameen, Veten, Willamette) and Glen Ample cultivar, which was used as control. The results highlighted significant differences and a large variation among the genotypes (between 2.40 and 4.90 g for fruit weight, 0.19–0.47 kg/cane for yield, 50–106 for drupelets/fruit, 10.0–12.7% for dry matter, 0.23–2.00% pectin, 1.61–2.72% glucose, etc.). The inheritance of the analyzed traits, considered quantitative, was different, but a low heritability was recorded for non-marketable fruits and the number of drupelets in fruit. In several hybrid selections, negative heterosis prevailed, highlighting the breeding difficulties of the important desired traits of the species. The values of heterosis and the broad-sense and narrow-sense heritability of some traits demonstrate that, through judiciously choosing parents, raspberry breeding in the desired direction can be successful.

Does the propagation technique affect phytochemical composition of raspberry and blackberry fruits?

“…Reducing sugars (glucose and fructose) were predominant sugars, while sucrose content was much lower in raspberry and blackberry fruits, 0.63-0.74% and 0.53-1.01%, respectively (Tables 1 and 2). However, in the study of Titirica et al (2023), a significantly higher sucrose content among 24 raspberry genotypes was found (1.13-1.83%).…”

“…One of the most important parameters of fruit maturity is the soluble solids content (SSC), which ranged from 12.72-13.34% in raspberries, regardless of the origin of the planting material and the year of harvest (Table 1). According to Titirica et al (2023), the SSC in fruits of different raspberry genotypes was 8.62-9.51%. Yang et al (2020) investigated the quality of three raspberry cultivars and indicated that the SSC depends on the degree of raspberry maturity.…”

Quantitative Traits of Interest in Apple Breeding and Their Implications for Selection

“…Both broad-sense heritability (H 2 ) and narrow-sense heritability (h 2 ) were calculated, and genetic variances were partitioned based on the relationship between the half-siblings [ 118 , 119 , 120 ]. Additive, dominant, and epistatic variances were used to divide the entire genetic variance into its three components (V G = V GA + V GD + V GI ).…”

Evaluation of Wild Raspberry (<em>Rubus idaeus </em>L.) Ecotypes from Northeastern Türkiye

“…Recording and compiling data on important characteristics that distinguish genotypes within a species allows easy and rapid discrimination between phenotypes. It provides a better understanding of the composition and genetic diversity of the collection, allowing simple grouping of genotypes, development of core collections and generation of valuable germplasm for breeding programs [21][22].…”

“…In recent years, biochemical analyzes on fruits have become more important due to their properties for human health [22][23][24]. Although there are many biochemical studies on cultivated red raspberry fruits [14,17,18,22], biochemical analysis and study results on wild red raspberry fruits are limited in literature.…”