Preliminary physicochemical and sensory characterization of new “Picota”-type cherry cultivars (Prunus avium L.)

The Jerte Valley (Extremadura, Spain) has been clearly distinguished for the cultivation of traditional sweet cherry landraces (mainly ‘Ambrunes’, ‘Pico Negro’ and ‘Pico Colorado’), which are generally known as “Picota”-type cherries because they are usually harvested stemless. Additionally, these cultivars are included into the Protected Designation of Origin “Cereza del Jerte”. These autochthonous “Picotas” are highly appreciated in European markets, especially in England, because of their outstanding organoleptic characteristics. Notwithstanding, several technical problems restrict the sustainability of “Picota”, mainly small fruit size and self-incompatibility. In this work, thirteen new selections “Picota”-type obtained from the Sweet Cherry Breeding Program of CICYTEX were evaluated in one harvest season (2016), concerning quality parameters and sensory properties. Physicochemical parameters such as fruit size, weight, skin colour, flesh firmness, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity and sensory properties (external appearance, skin colour, colour intensity, sourness, sweetness, ‘Ambrunes’ taste, crispness, texture and acceptance) were assessed at commercial maturity stage. Among quality characteristics evaluated, skin colour, fruit size and weight showed a prominent role in the segregation of the new selections, followed by flesh firmness and titratable acidity. However, TSS was not so decisive as the previous ones, because the cultivars showed a narrow range, whose values varied between 19-25 °Brix. According to sensory analysis, as relevant results, new selections of “Picota”-type that received the highest scores for global acceptance were directly related to those cultivars that showed fruits with higher size and dark-coloured skin.