A novel mid-maturing cultivar with high dry matter content from seedlings of ‘jinfeng’ kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis)

Abstract

Dry matter is an extreme important index of fruit flavor quality, it affects flavor and texture of Actinidia. In 1979, ‘Jinfeng’ (code was ‘793’), a late-maturing cultivar with high yield and golden flesh was discovered. However, with the above advantages, its dry matter was low after we planted it at low altitudes (Fengxin county, 114°55’E; 28°35’N, 70 m) by vegetative propagation. In 2008, pollen from ‘Ganxiong 1’ (A. chinensis) was used to pollinate ‘Jinfeng’ through collaboration between Jiangxi Agricultural University and Kiwifruit Institute of Fengxin County in Jiangxi Province, collected seeds and sown in following year. A tetraploid genotype (code was ‘GJ 3’) with high dry matter had been found from 893 progenies. In addition, it not only retained the excellent characteristics of the female parent, but also matured one month earlier than ‘Jinfeng’. We rafted its scions to asexual reproduction in Fengxin County (rootstock was A. chin-ensis) to carry out DUS test (Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability) in 2013–2015. The results showed that high dry matter was a stable characteristic; compared with the ‘Jinfeng’ and ‘Hort16A’, the dry matter content improved by 45.05% and 22.26%. Meanwhile the fruit is wide ellipse and with golden flesh. The dry matter ranges from 19.2% to 21.2%, soluble solids content (SSC) ranges from 16.8% to 19.1%, and ascorbic acid (AsA) content is 86.3 mg 100 g-1. The paper introduced the main agronomic traits of high dry matter cultivar and discussed the main reason of regulatory mechanism on sugar types during fruit growth, and its usefulness for studying the regulatory mechanism of dry matter in kiwifruit (A. chinensis).