Época de maduración y calidad del fruto de genotipos de manzana en Cadereyta, Qro.

Apple production in Querétaro State, Mexico occurs under irregular rainfall conditions, in highly steeped slopes, with a deficient orchard management, the occurrence of unfavorable climatologic events, and a seasonal variation of the ripening of main cultivars, causing unmarketable poor fruit quality. A viable solution is the introduction and selection of high quality and early ripening varieties adapted to local conditions. Ripening season and fruit quality of 20 apple new hybrids and varieties, based on fruit diameter, fruit weight, firmness, total soluble solids (TSS), and total titratable acidity (TTA), were studied. Genotypes 401 ('Tropical Beauty' x 'Princesa', red color) and 467 ('Anna' x 'Liberty', yellow color) ripened the earliest, on July 8; other six genotypes ('Rayada', 424, 428, 421, SM4 and SM5) ripened before August 1^st. The highest sized of these was 428 ('Anna' x 'Gala', red blushed, 8.5 cm diameter and 39 % of fruits in the "Extra" category of the Mexican standards). Other outstanding materials were 467 (7.0 cm) and 'Rayada' (6.9 cm). Within the midseason ripening accessions, 436 ('Anna' x 'Gala') and 429 ('Anna' x CLR9T10) were outstanding and higher than 'Golden Delicious' in diameter with 7.8 cm and 7.4 cm, respectively. Besides, the first one produced 27 % of fruits in the "Extra" category with a TSS (16.3 %) superior to 'Golden Delicious' (13.4 %) and to 'Red Delicious' (12.7 %). Within the late ripening genotypes, 'Lourdes' showed similar quality to those of local cultivars.