Darrell-Lee McKenzie

Resistance of sweet cherry cultivars to fruit surface pitting

A recently developed technique was used to determine the susceptibility to fruit surface pitting of new sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) cultivars and compare them to an industry standard. The cultivars tested included Bing (industry standard), Cristalina, Lapins, Sandra Rose, Santina, Skeena, Sonata, Staccato, and Sweetheart. Fruit were harvested at commercial maturity, injured, held at 1°C for 2 wk and then rated for fruit surface pitting. The cultivars Lapins, Skeena, Staccato, and Sweetheart had less pitting than Bing. Cristalina and Sonata tended to have similar levels of injury to Bing and Sandra Rose and Santina tended to have more severe pitting than Bing. Key words: Sweet cherries, cultivars, simulated pitting injury

SPA493 (Salish™) apple

Hampson, C. R., MacDonald, R. A., McKenzie, D.-L. and Walters, W. 2013. SPA493 (Salish™) apple. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 979-982. ‘SPA493’ (Salish™) is a new bi-coloured dessert apple from the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada breeding program at Summerland, BC, Canada. The fruit is crisp and juicy, with balanced flavour and medium to long storage potential. The fruit reaches harvest maturity in early October in Summerland. ‘SPA493’ trees are moderately vigorous, productive, and not subject to biennial bearing or pre-harvest drop.

SPC103 (Sentennial™) sweet cherry

Kappel, F., MacDonald, R. A., Brownlee, R. T. and McKenzie, D.-L. 2011 SPC103 (Sentennial™) sweet cherry. Can. J. Plant Sci. 91: 179-181. SPC103 (Sentennial™) is a sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) that has been released by the Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre (PARC-Summerland), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at Summerland, BC, as part of the ongoing sweet cherry breeding program that began in 1936. Sentennial™ is the latest maturing cultivar released from PARC-Summerland and has very good fruit size and firmness. It was released to growers for advanced commercial testing in 2006. The name Sentennial™ was chosen in honour of the District of Summerlands centennial year in 2006 and it was spelled with an “S” to maintain the tradition of starting most cherry cultivar names from the Summerland breeding program with an “S”.

13N0770 (Stardust™) sweet cherry

13N0770 (Stardust™) is a late-maturing blush sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) that has been released by the Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre (PARC-Summerland), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at Summerland, BC. The release is part of the on-going sweet cherry breeding program that began in 1936 (Kappel and Lay 1997). Stardust™ is the latest-maturing blush or bi-colored cultivar released from PARC-Summerland and has very good fruit size, firmness, and is self-fertile. It was released to growers for wide scale commercial testing in 2002.Key words: Prunus avium, fruit breeding, cultivar description

‘SPC136’ (Suite Note™) sweet cherry

Hampson, C., MacDonald, R., McKenzie, D.-L., Herbert, L. and Pagliocchini, C. 2014. ‘SPC136’ (Suite Note™) sweet cherry. Can. J. Plant Sci. 94: 1555-1558. ‘SPC136’ (Suite Note™) is a new early-season sweet cherry being released for commercial production by the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada sweet cherry breeding program at Summerland, BC, Canada. Harvest timing in Summerland (Jul. 09) is similar to that of ‘Bing’ or ‘Van’ but fruit size is much larger (over 12 g). Fruit firmness, soluble solids content and susceptibility to rain splitting resemble those of other cultivars of similar harvest timing, but stem detachment force is higher. The trees are not self-fertile and bloom late in the cherry blossom season.