THE NEW SWEET SERIES CHERRY CULTIVARS FROM BOLOGNA UNIVERSITY

Stefano Lugli, Riccardo Correale, Michelangelo Grandi

Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Università degli Studi di Bologna - Viale G. Fanin 44, 40127, Bologna, Italy

Introduction We present the plant and cropping performance profiles of five new sweet cherry cultivars bred at Bologna University. Begun in 2000 at its Department of Arboreal Crops, the breeding programme’s new varieties feature harvest dates covering four marketing weeks. The current phase of the programme involves a public-private partnership coordinated by CRPV in Cesena with funding provided by the University and the Emilia-Romagna regional authority in the public sector and in the private by New Plant, the Apo Conerpo producer organisation, Apofruit Italia and Orogel Fresco, as well as the non-profit Vignola Foundation. The breeding stages of parental selection and initial crosses were followed by a seedling selection process under strict threshold screening parameters, i.e. ≥ 28 mm minimum size, 4-6 CTIFL scale skin colour, ≈ 400 g flesh firmness, ≥ 18 °Brix sugar content, and 7-8 g/l acidity. This stage involved a total of 3000 seedlings and led in 2004 to the selection of 13 candidates that were then tested in three pre-commercial Stage 3 test fields set up in 2008; the five best-performing candidates were chosen for release in 2012. Bologna University’s Knowledge Transfer Office-Intellectual Property Protection Office has lodged patent applications with the European Union for these five new cultivars and their trademarks Sweet Aryana® PA1UNIBO*, Sweet Lorenz® PA2UNIBO*, Sweet Gabriel® PA3UNIBO*, Sweet Valina® PA4UNIBO* and Sweet Saretta® PA5UNIBO*. The University will hold all rights to the varieties and seek business partners through its contacts with Italian and foreign nursery companies interested in propagating and marketing them under country-exclusive licensing agreements. Results

Level III fields Planting year

Rootstock Spacing (m) Density (tree/ha)

Training system

Vignola (Mo) 2/2008

Colt 4.0x2.0 / 1,250 Multi-leader vase

Gisela 6 5.0x3.0 / 666 Compact palmette

Savignano (Mo) 2/2008

Colt 5.0x4.0 / 500 Drapeau

Cadriano (Bo) 3/2007

Gisela 6 5.0x2.5 / 800 Free spindle

Materials and Methods

Sweet Aryana® PA1UNIBO* Origin: DCA –Bologna University, Italy, by S. Lugli, R. Correale and M. Grandi in 2001, unknown parentals. Original seedling selected in 2004, tested on Gisela 6 and Colt from 2007-2011. EU application No. 2012/1157. EU Trade Mark No. 11058559/2012. Tree: high vigour, open canopy, good branching, early bearing, high cropping, self-compatible (S3S4’), early bloom. Fruit: medium-large size, symmetrical depressed-heartshaped, shiny dark-red skin, firm flesh, sweet, good taste, medium long peduncle, early season (3-5 days post-Burlat), uniform ripening, average cracking susceptibility. Sweet Lorenz® PA2UNIBO* Origin: DCA – Bologna University, Italy, by S. Lugli, R. Correale and M. Grandi in 2001, unknown parentals. Original seedling selected in 2004, tested on Gisela 6 and Colt from 2008-2012. EU patent application No. 2012/1158. EU Trade Mark No.11043973/2012. Tree: high vigour, open canopy, god branching, early bearing, high cropping, self-incompatible (S3S4), early bloom. Fruit: very large size, symmetrical heartshaped, shiny dark-red skin, very firm flesh, sweet, excellent taste; medium-long peduncle, mid-early season (8-10 days post-Burlat), uniform ripening, medium low cracking susceptibility. Sweet Gabriel® PA3UNIBO* Origin: Bologna University, Italy, by S. Lugli, R. Correale and M. Grandi in 2001, unknown parentals. Original seedling selected in 2004, tested on Gisela 6 from 2008-2011. EU patent application No. 2012/1159. EU Trade Mark No. 11051786/2012. Tree: high vigour, open canopy, good branching, very early bearing, very high cropping, self-incompatible (S1S4), intermediate bloom date. Fruit: very large size, symmetrical heart-shape, shiny sark-red skin, firm flesh, sweet; good taste, mid-long peduncle, mid-season (11-14 days post-Burlat), uniform ripening, susceptible to cracking. Sweet Valina® PA4UNIBO* Origin: Bologna University, Italy, by S. Lugli, R. Correale and M. Grandi in 2001, unknown parentals. Original seedling selected in 2004, tested on Colt from 2008-2011. EU patent application No. 2012/1160. EU Trade Mark No. 11058609/2012. Tree: very high vigour, semi-open canopy, branched, mid-early season bearing, good cropping, self-incompatible (S3S4), midearly bloom. Fruit: very large size, symmetrical heart-shape, shiny dark-red skin, intermediate flesh firmness, sweet, good taste, mid-long peduncle, mid-season (15-18 days post-Burlat), uniform ripening, susceptible to cracking. Sweet Saretta® PA5UNIBO* Origin: Bologna University, Italy, by S. Lugli, R. Correale and M. Grandi in 2001, unknown parentals. Original seedling selected in 2004, tested on Gisela 6 from 2008-2011. EU patent application No. 2012/1161. EU Trade Mark No. 11058691/2012. Tree: high vigour, open canopy, well-branched, very early bearing, very high cropping, self-compatible (S3S4’), intermediate bloom. Fruit: very large size, symmetrical heart-shape, shiny dark-red skin, mediun-to-firm flesh firmness, sweet, good taste, mid-short peduncle, mid-late season (22-24 post-Burlat), uniform ripening, susceptible to cracking.