DOUGHNUT-SHAPED (PEEN TAO)PEACHES
Saturn® (NJF2=NJ602903 x Pallas)
A white-fleshed, semi-freestone, peen-tao type or doughnut-shaped peach which was released
by the NJAES.Fruit ripen a few days after Redhaven and are attractive with 70% red over a
cream-green ground color.Fruit are 5.7 to 6.3 cm (2 1/4 to 2 1/2 inches) and have a sweet, low
acid, mild flavor and sometimes develop rose-like aromatics.The fruit soften fast necessitating
picking it early.Flower buds are very hardy and the tree tends to crop heavily.The fruit hang
tenaciously to the tree making it a difficult variety to thin and pick.The leaves of Saturn have
high bacterial spot resistance.Fruit of Saturn® can sometimes be found in major grocery stores
in NJ and I suspect these were produced on the west coast.
D33-1(NJ291x NJF8)
A white-fleshed, clingstone, doughnut-shaped peach.Fruit ripen about 1 week after Redhaven
and are 40-50% light pink-red over a cream-green ground color.Fruit are large, often 7.0 cm
(2 3/4 inches) or more, but are irregular in shape and not as attractive as Saturn®.The flesh
texture is firm nonmelting.Fruit are sub-acid and very sweet with a hint of floral aromatics
when fully ripe.D33-1 is moderately susceptible to bacterial leaf spot and not as productive as
Saturn®.
PROMISING NJAES WHITE NECTARINE SELECTIONS
K56-4(B8-9-46 x Eastern Glo)
A semi-freestone, nectarine selection ripening 1 1/2 weeks before Redhaven.Fruit are round,
very attractive, 80-95% red over cream ground, with a bright glossy finish.Fruit size is 5.7 to
6.3 cm (2 1/4 to 2 1/2 inches).Firmness is very good, suitable for shipping.We judge the
flavor to be excellent with a well-balanced sugar:acid ratio.Trees are moderately resistant to
bacterial spot.This is a recent selection which needs more testing.
K54-25(B8-9-46 x Eastern Glo)
A semi-freestone nectarine selection ripening 5 to 7 days before Redhaven.Fruit are round,
attractive, 90-100% red over cream ground.Fruit are 5.7 cm (2 1/4 inches).Fruit firmness and
flavor are both rated as very good.Trees are productive but are moderately susceptible to
bacterial spot.
THE STONY HARDGENE
The stony hard gene dramatically alters the way in which a peach ripens (Goffreda, 1992;
Maness et al., 1993; Mignani and Goffreda, 1998).Fruit are much firmer than normal peaches
when they are fully ripe and they maintain their firmness even at room temperature for 3 or
more days.Stony hard fruit do not show the normal climacteric rise in ethylene production
when ripe.However, they rapidly soften after continuous treatment with ethylene.The level of
soluble solids in stony hard fruit does not appear to be adversely affected by this gene, but it
may affect other flavor components.We are continuing to conduct postharvest tests on stony
hard selections to determine if there is any market potential for stony hard varieties.Listed
below are a few of the most promising stony hard selections from the NJAES breeding program.
L5-112 (Jefferson x 7-28) OP
A stony hard, clingstone peach ripening 1 week before Redhaven.Fruit are attractive with 70-
90% red over color on a cream ground color.The combination of the stony hard and clingstone
genes results in a flesh texture that is very firm, almost crunchy, when fully ripe.The fruit size
Fruit soften slowly, making this selection excellent for
shipping.Trees have only slight bacterial spot resistance and are not consistently productive.
L2-42 (NJ293 x JingYu)OP
A stony hard, freestone nectarine ripening a few days before Redhaven.Fruit are 80% red over
a cream ground color.They can be very attractive although there were finish problems in 1997.
Fruit are 5.7 to 6.3 cm (2 1/4 to 2 1/2 inches) and very firm.The flavor is mild sub-acid, but
can it can be bland in some years.Trees have slight bacterial spot resistance.
J19-19 (RR53-272 x 7-28) OP
An older stony hard peach selection ripening about 1 to 2 weeks after Redhaven.Fruit can be
attractive with 30-90% red on a cream-green ground color.Fruit are generally 6.3 cm (2 1/
2 inches) and have a mild, sub-acid flavor.Firmness is very good.Trees have only slight
bacterial spot resistance.In recent years, this selection has been used extensively as a parent for
the stony hard texture.
APRICOT BREEDING AT NJAES
The principal objective of the NJAES apricot program is to develop high quality cultivars that
will be consistently productive in our region.Reducing the fluctuations in the yield of apricots
will require increasing the chilling and heat requirements to induce bloom, improving the
tolerance of flowers and flower buds to spring frosts, and enhancing the level of disease
resistance.The ability of any breeding program to achieve its objectives is limited by the
genetic variation available to it.Unfortunately, the apricot cultivars of Europe, North America,
South Africa and Australia belong to the European group which is believed to be the group with
the least genetic variability (Mehlenbacher et al., 1990).In contrast to the European group, the
apricots of the central Asian group are rich in morphological and genetic variability, resist
fluctuating mid-winter temperatures, and can be very high in soluble solids (occasionally 30%
or more).The former Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan is a major apricot producing country in
central Asia and at approximately the same latitude as New Jersey.Near Tashkent, the capital of
Uzbekistan, is atree fruit repository called the Central Asian Experiment Station of the Institute
of Plant Industry (VIR) and a plant science research center called the Shreder Institute.Dr.
David Zaurov, a postdoctoral associate at Rutgers, and I are working in collaboration with
scientists from these institutes to develop cultivars adapted to a broader range of climates in the
US and Europe.
(Figure 1).It typically blooms about 7 to 10 days later than our latest European-type apricots,
which is as late as our earliest peaches.Zard is reported to be more tolerant of frost and have a
higher heat requirement than other apricots.Zard ripens about 2 weeks after Harcot.The fruit
are small, 3.5 to 4.0 cm (1.4 to 1.6 inches), and green-yellow when soft ripe.The flesh is soft,
juicy and very sweet with soluble solids between 22-24%.In recent years we have used this
selection extensively in our breeding program and in the future we will be using more central
Asian varieties to develop late blooming, frost-tolerant apricots.Listed below are a few of the
most promising apricot varieties and selections from the NJAES breeding program.
PROMISING NJAESAPRICOT VARIETIES AND SELECTIONS
Early Blush®NJA53 (RR17-62x NJA13)
An attractive, good quality apricot ripening about 2 1/2 weeks before Harcot.The fruit are
round, medium-sized, about 4.5 to 5.0 cm (1.8 to 2.0 inches).The fruit of Early Blush® have a
30-50% red blush over an orange ground color.The fruit may soften rapidly, especially at the
pistil end.We generally rate the fruit quality of Early Blush® as high with soluble solids of
about 17%.Hardiness and bloom date are comparable to those of Harcot in New Jersey.US
Plant Patent No. 9,255 (Goffreda, 1995; Goffreda et al., 1995a).
SunGem® NJA54 (NJA2x RR17-62)
An attractive, good quality apricot ripening about 1 1/2 to 2 weeks before Harcot.The fruit are
round, small to medium, generally 4.0 to 4.5 cm (1.6 to 1.8 inches).The fruit of SunGem®
have 15-40% bright red blush on an orange ground color.Flesh is dark orange and juicy.The
firmness of the fruit is above average.It is full flavored and usually has a high eating quality
rating.Soluble solids are in the range of 15-17% when ripe.It has not cropped well in New
Jersey.US Plant Patent No. 8,674 (Goffreda, 1994; Goffreda et al., 1995b).
NJA97 (RR17-62x NJA13)
An attractive, good quality apricot ripening about 1 1/2 to 2 weeks before Harcot.The fruit are
round, medium-sized, about 4.5 to 5.0 cm (1.8 to 2.0 inches).The fruit have 30-40% red blush
on an orange ground color.The flesh color is orange to dark orange.Fruit quality is
consistently rated as very good, with soluble solid of 16-17%.Fruit firmness is average.
Cropping of NJA97 is comparable to Harcot in New Jersey, although NJA97 tends to bloom
slightly later.
Orangered® NJA32 (Lasgerdi Mashhad x NJA2)
A medium-large and attractive apricot ripening about 1 week before Harcot.Fruit are round,
slightly compressed, and approximately 5.0 to 5.5 cm (2.0 to 2.2 inches).The fruit of
Orangered® have a 10-50% red blush over a bright orange ground color.The flesh is dark
orange, firm, and fine textured.Fruit quality is consistently rated as very good.Fruit firmness
is above average, making this selection suitable for commercial production.
Jerseycot (RR18-64x CR3-135)
Jerseycot was released by our program because it was the most consistently productive apricot
selection in our collection.In the past 22 years, Jerseycot has produced at least a partial crop in
all but 2 years.The fruit of Jerseycot ripens about 5 days before Harcot and is round to round-
oblong, light orange with a slight green suture in some years.There is generally no blush.The
fruit size is medium, approximately 3.8 to 4.8 cm (1.5 to 1.9 inches).The flesh color of
Jerseycot is orange.The flavor is usually mild but can develop a melon-like quality in some
years.Fruit soften quickly and drop fast, making this cultivar not suitable for commercial
production (Mehlenbacher et al., 1987).
NJA113(Jerseycot x NJA93)
A fairly large apricot ripening about 5 days before Harcot.Although earlier blooming than
many of our apricots, this selection has had light to moderate crops the past couple years when
we experienced several freezing events just prior to or during bloom.Fruit are round, slightly
compressed, 4.5 to 5.5 cm (1.8 to 2.2 inches).The fruit are orange with 0-10% orange-red
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