Traditional pear cultivars are increasingly in demand by consumers because of their excellent taste, the possibility of use in sustainable food production systems, convenience as raw materials for obtaining products of high nutritional quality, and perceived health benefits. In this study, individual sugars, organic acids, and polyphenols in the fruits of nine traditional and one commercial pear cultivar during two growing seasons were determined by HPLC. A significant influence of cultivars, growing years, and their interaction on the content of analyzed primary and secondary metabolites was determined. The commercial pear cultivar ‘Président Drouard’ and traditional cultivars ‘Dolokrahan’, ‘Budaljača’, and ‘Krakača’ had a lower content of all analyzed sugars. Overall, traditional pear cultivars had higher total polyphenols in the peel and pulp than ‘Président Drouard’, with the exception ‘Takiša’ and ‘Ahmetova’. High polyphenol content detected in ‘Budaljača’, ‘Dolokrahan’, and ‘Krakača’ shows the utilization value of traditional pear germplasm. The obtained data can serve as practical supporting data for the use of traditional pears in the neutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and food industries.

Pomological characteristics and consumer acceptability of four scab-resistant apple cultivars (‘Topaz’, ‘Florina’, ‘Goldstar’ and ‘Golden Orange’) and standard commercial cultivar ‘Golden Delicious’ were investigated. Consumer acceptability consisted of rating fruit samples on Likert scales measuring appearance, flavour, size, sweetness, acidity, crispiness, juiciness, skin texture and general impression. Consumers better evaluated the cultivar ‘Topaz’ sensory characteristics of flavour, juiciness, taste and general impression than other evaluated scab-resistant apple cultivars and the cultivar ‘Golden Delicious’. ‘Golden Delicious’ got good grades for appearance, size and sweetness. ‘Topaz’ also had the best pomological characteristic related to measured fruit firmness, contents of soluble solids and organic acids. It can be concluded that only the cultivar ‘Topaz’ among the scab-resistant apple cultivars achieved a good consumer assessment.

: The main objective of this study was to examine the characteristics and the relationship between walnuts in the Una-Sana Canton based on phenotypic properties. This is the first study of preselection of walnut variability in this area. In this study, we evaluated the phenological and morphological characteristics of 75 selected genotypes during 2014 and 2015. Twenty-four phenotypic traits were monitored throughout 2 years on different sites. The results of the PCA analysis showed a very high heterogeneity of walnut seedlings on the examined sites, from the aspect of observed parameters. A limited number of superior genotypes were found, but individual genotypes with high nut and kernel weight, as well as the colour of the kernel were determined, which would classify them as high-ranked parents in hybridization programs. Certain number of genotypes with high values of traits such as: nut weight, kernel weight and a high percentage of kernel were selected for future studies. Amongst the selected trees, genotype G25 had the highest weight of nuts and kernel, as well as a satisfactory color of the kernel. This genotype could be used as a superior tree for further breeding programs in the future. A highlevel of phenotypic variability in this studyrevealed the existence of a rich genetics pool of nuts variation. The genetic diversity of walnuts obtained from our studies will represent a valuable source of information for breeding programs of Persian walnut in future.

The chemical variability of bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.), wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca L.), cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L.) and rosehip (Rosa canina L.) based on the content of individual and total sugars and organic acids in fruit was investigated. The fruits were picked in fully ripened condition within the period from 2014 to 2015 from different locations. The fresh fruits were analyzed with the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technique for the purpose of identifying and quantifying the content of glucose, fructose and sucrose, as well as malic, citric, fumaric and shikimic acids. However, the content of individual sugars and organic acids differed by locations as well as by growing year within the same wild fruit species. The differences between wild fruit species as well as among different locations are presented by principal component analysis (PCA). Based on results obtained, rosehip fruits with higher sugars and organic acids ratio (S/A) are suitable for production of “pekmez” and drying, while genotypes of cornelian cherry, wild strawberry and bilberry with lower S/A are recommended for production of juices and gelatin products. The research results show that specific environmental conditions may influence significantly the content of analyzed parameters, as is the case with cornelian cherry and rosehip. Considering that the food industry is searching for new products, the wild fruit species analyzed represent a promising source of ingredients for the development of beverages and foods with functional properties as well as for supplements and nutraceuticals.

Pozegaca’ is the most important native plum genotype in southeast Europe. In this study, the phytochemical fruit composition of the ‘Pozegaca’ ecotype from four different growing regions was evaluated over three growing years. HPLC was used for identification and quantification of sugars, organic acids and phenolic compounds in the fruits. The total effects of growing years and regions on different phytochemical characteristics of ‘Pozegaca’ fruit were analysed using principal component analysis (PCA). Glucose, fructose, sucrose and sorbitol were detected as major sugars in ‘Pozegaca’ fruit. Malic, citric, fumaric and shikimic acids were identified in the studied plum ecotype. Glucose was the predominant sugar and malic acid was the predominant organic acid. A range of phenol compounds was identified, including hydroxycinnamic acids, flavonols, anthocyanins and flavan3-ols. The main factor affecting the fruit quality and phenol composition of the ‘Pozegaca’ plum ecotype in skin and pulp was the growing year. The geographical origin of the ‘Pozegaca’ ecotype appears to have no major influence on the phenol profile of ‘Pozegaca’ fruit. The results showed that air temperature has a strong correlation with sugar compounds (particularly with fructose and sucrose) and with some organic acids (fumaric, shikimic and citric). Related to the accumulation of phenol compounds, air temperature strongly correlated with flavanols (particularly with quercetin 3-rutinoside) and anthocyanins in pulp. Precipitation and altitude were strongly correlated with total phenols in pulp, chlorogenic acid in skin and pulp, neochlorogenic acid in pulp, and all three identified flavanols in pulp. The results showed that specific seasonal and geographic environmental conditions could significantly affect the content of secondary metabolites in ‘Pozegaca’ fruit.

Three commercial apple cultivars ('Jonagold', 'Granny Smith' and 'Idared') and the local apple cultivar ('Prijedorska Zelenika') from Bosnia and Herzegovina were analysed by HPLC-MS for the content of phenolic compounds in peel and pulp as well content of individual sugars and organic acids. Catechin, (-)-epicatechin, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, quercetin 3-O-xyloside, quercetin 3-O-arabinoside, quercetin 3-O-rhamnoside, quercetin 3-O-rutinoside, quercetin 3-O-galactoside and quercetin 3-O-glucoside were identified in apple peel and (-)-epicatechin, chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid in apple pulp at all observed cultivars. The total sugars content of analysed apple cultivars ranged between 91.61 and 105.45 g kg-1 FM, while the total organic acids content was from 5.70 to 15.05 g kg-1 FM. The levels of total organic acids and sugars, glucoce/fructose ratio and sugar/acid ratio were affected by cultivars. The mean content of total phenolic compounds was between 427.92 and 1457.95 mg kg-1 FM in peel and from 113.58 to 439.83 mg kg-1 FM in pulp and depending upon the cultivars. The presented data clearly demonstrated that traditional apple cultivar ('Prijedorska Zelenika') had significantly higher individual phenolic compounds in pulp in comparison to the commercial cultivars, i.e., 'Idared', 'Jonagold' and 'Granny Smith' and with respect of that 'Prijedorska Zelenika' is recommended as raw material for cloudy juice processing.

The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of calcium fertilizer treatments on fruit quality and distribution of calcium in apple fruit (Malus domestica Borkh. cv. Idared). Four treatments were tested: application of calcium nitrate through the fertigation system, foliar application of calcium nitrate, application of calcium oxide through soil, and control treatment (without calcium fertilizer). In the experiment, freshly picked apples harvested in Gorazde region (eastern Bosnia) in September 2018 were analyzed. The highest impact to increase calcium content in apple had a treatment where calcium nitrate was added through the fertigation system. It was the result of the balance between calcium and nitrogen in the applied solution as well as the fertigation capacity to timely deliver nutrition to the main rooting zone. Calcium distribution was not uniform within the fruit: the highest content was found in the apple core, decreasing in the apple flesh, and rising again in the apple skin, regardless of fertilizer treatment. There was no difference among calcium fertilizer treatments in total soluble solids and titratable acidity of apple, indicating that these treatments were insufficient in order to improve the examined parameters of fruit quality.