Study of red currant cultivars based on the characteristics of small-sized seeds and a small number of seeds

The goal of the study was to identify red currant cultivars bred by the Russian Research Institute of Fruit Crop Breeding having small-sized seeds and a small number of seeds for industrial use and as sources of these traits for breeding. The work was carried out in 2020–2023 in the Orel region. Twenty-one red currant cultivars were studied according to the following indicators: the number of seeds in a berry; the weight of 1000 seeds and the proportion of seeds in the berry weight. As a result of the study, no samples combining small-sized seeds and small amounts of seeds in one genotype were found among the studied red currant cultivars. ‘Podarok Pobeditelyam’, ‘Orlovchanka’, ‘Podarok Leta’ and ‘Valentinovka’ red currants are the sources of small amounts of seeds (3…4 seed pcs in the berry) with low proportion (3.8…4.1 %) in the berry weight. ‘Premiera’ is characterized by small-sized seeds (1000 seeds weighing up to 5 g) and a low proportion of seeds in the berry weight; this cultivar can be used in breeding as a source of these characteristics. ‘Аsоrа’ and ‘Аsya’ with an average seed weight and an average number of seeds have a low specific gravity of seeds to the berry weight, which is an important indicator for processing. A positive correlation has been determined between the number of seeds and the berry weight. ‘Niva’, ‘Оrlovskaya Zvezda’, ‘Аsya’ and ‘Dana’ have a high correlation coefficient (r = 0.999…0.997). A weak degree of correlation (r = 0.480) between these characteristics is noted in ‘Osipovskaya’. The samples with a moderate correlation between the number of seeds and the weight of the berry are of interest in breeding for large-fruited seedlings with a small number of seeds.