Morphological and biochemical characteristics of medlar (Crataegus germanica) fruits in the Forest-Steppe of Ukraine

This study was carried out to determine the morphological traits of the fruit as well as the dry matter, sugars, and organic a c ids of medlar ( Crataegus germanica (L.) Kuntze) genotypes which were grown near Kyiv, Ukraine in 2022–2024. A total of 15 genotypes were evaluated in the study, including 14 varieties originating from Western, Central, and Eastern European countries, the North Caucasus, and Iran, and one local semi-wild form. S ignificant differences were detected among the genotypes on the morphological and biological characters and on the chemical composition of the fruit. Fruit diameter ranged from 16.97 to 42.17 mm, fruit weight from 2.39 to 34.37 g, pyren a percentage from 0.00 % to 16.82%. ‘Apyrena’ and ‘Seedless’ are charact e rized by the complete absence of pyren a s and seeds in the fruit. In terms of fruit diameter and fruit weight genotypes are grouped into very small fruit (‘Apyrena’), small fruit (semi-wild medlar, ‘Seedless’ and ‘Nottingham’), medium-sized fruit (‘Gojtkhiv s ka’, ‘Monstruose d’Evreinoff’, ‘Haidegger’, ‘25-hrammovaja’, ‘Elburs’, ‘Silberberger’, ‘Delice des Vannes’, and ‘Sladkaja Dr a chyova’), and large fruit (‘Holland’, ‘Dutch Giant’, ‘Dniprovska’, and Flanders Giant ® ). The correlation between fruit diameter and fruit weight is very strong, r = 0.9 8 . The weight of pyren a s in the fruit is moderately correlated with the fruit weight, r = – 0.45. Medlar pyren a s var ied in length from about 8.75 to 13.53 mm, in width from 6.06 to 11.01 mm and in thickness from 3.97 to 7.12 mm. The largest pyren a s we re found in ‘Dutch Giant’, ‘Holland’, Flanders Giant ® , ‘Dniprovska’, and ‘Gojtkhivska’, accordingly 0.33, 0.33, 0.35, 0.37, 0.48 g; the smallest pyren a s (0.11 g) we re found in semi-wild medlar fruit. The fruits of the ultra-early ‘Hoitkhivska’ variety beg a n to soften on the tree in late October. The early ripening varieties ‘Elburs’, ‘Haidegger’, ‘Nottingham’, ‘Si l berberger’ and semi-wild medlar reach ed consumer ripeness when stored indoors at room temperature for two weeks. Late-ripening varieties include ‘Delice des Vannes’, ‘Dutch Giant’, Flanders Giant ® , ‘Holland’, ‘Monstruose d'Evreinoff’, ‘Sladkaja Drachyova’, and ‘25-hrammovaja’. Fruits of ultra-late varieties ‘Apyrena’, ‘Dniprovska’, and ‘Seedless’, we re ha r vested in the late October without bletting. In December , fruit after repeated freezing outdoors on the tree, when the flesh had reached a soft consistency, consisted of dry matter from 19.7% to 26.2%. The total sugar ranged from 8.5% to 17.1%, monosa c charides from 8.3% to 16.0%, titratable acidity from 0.28% to 1.12%, ascorbic acid from 2.94 to 4.84 mg / 100 g, sugar/acidity index from 10.0 to 50.8.