The assessment of quality of old apple varieties was made in order to preserve and use these germplasm in the area of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The characterization was done for ten old varieties of apples selected on the basis of good characteristics of sensory analysis. The following parameters were considered: fruit weight, fruit length and width, stalk length and width, fruit flesh firmness; soluble solids content and total dry matter content of the fruit juice; pH, titratable acidity (TA), vitamin C, total phenolics, total flavonoids and antioxidant potential evaluated by DPPH radical scavenging assay. Statistical analysis was performed separately for sensory, pomological and biochemical characterization (in two consecutive years) by analysis of variance. Only traits such as weight, width and height of the fruit were the biggest in ‘Vinjugara’ which had a low content of titratable acidity whereby it could be singled out as an acceptable variety for consumers. ‘Đedovaca’ had the highest content of phenols (1711.8 mg GAE/100 g of fruit weight), which is in complete relationship with good free radical scavenging activity (11.1 mg of fresh fruit/ml). ‘Kolacara’ and ‘Gospoinjaca’ were distinguished as particularly interesting for good nutritional characteristics, primarily the content of phenols, flavonoids and free radical scavenging ability, but also for suitable storage characteristics, °Brix content and firmness. Due to favourable pomological and biochemical characteristics these varieties were recommended to be included in the breeding program that will result in the enrichment of germplasm of the apples from these areas.

In July 2015, 179 grapevine plants belonging to 16 grapevine autochthonous cultivars were assessed for sanitary status using DAS ELISA test for the presence of: Grapevine fanleaf virus (GFLV), Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 1 (GLRaV-1), Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 2 (GLRaV-2)and Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3 (GLRaV-3). Furthermore, surveyfor the phytoplasma presence and laboratory analyses using nested-PCR/RFLP assay was conducted at the beginning of September 2015 on grapevine cultivars which were not positive in DAS ELISA test for the presence of the four viruses. Out of 179 tested plants with DAS ELISA test, 146 (81%) were positive for the presence of at least one virus. The most widespread viruses were GFLaV- 1 and GFLaV- 3 with approximately 80 % of grapevines infected. Nested–PCR/RFLP assay showed that out of 33 tested samples 2 were positive for the presence of phytoplasmas from 16SrXII group. Sanitation of infected grapevine cultivars is needed in near future.

Molecular confirmation of the process of differentiation of meristematic tissue of plants is primarily based on histomorphological characterization of the tissues carrying these processes. For perennial plants – fruit trees, the knowledge of these processes is important to define runtime type and pomotechnical treatments but also to identify the genes responsible for determination of the apices into a generative phase of differentiation. Which apex extraction techniques will be applied depends on the structure of buds, i.e. whether an apex differentiates only into generative elements – pure flower buds, or the differentiation goes into two directions: differentiation of leaf primordium with axillar meristematic dome and differentiation of generative elements of flowers in the peak or lateral zone of an apex – mixed buds. The fruit trees of the genus Prunus have purely flower buds and for this purpose the whole apex is taken, between protection – cover leaves, on lateral positions of all collateral buds at shoot nodes. The moment of initiation of determination and the dynamics of differentiation of generative buds are different at different type of shoots on a tree. It is therefore necessary to know the shoots growth cessation time which is in correlation with apex determination. Fruit trees of the genus Prunus are ending the growth of shoots by rejection of shoot peaks, and the cast away time depends on the type, length and the position of shoots.

The research on 10 old and indigenous pear cultivars was conducted during 2012 and 2013 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The following characteristics were determined: fruit weight, fruit length and width, stalk length and width, fruit flesh firmness ; soluble solids content and total dry matter content of the fruit juice ; pH, titratable acidity, vitamin C, total phenolics, total flavonoids and antioxidant activity of the fruit cell juice. On the basis of the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of pomological fruit characteristics the studied cultivars were divided into four main groups. Based on the PCA of biochemical traits the studied cultivars can be divided into three groups. Extremely high phenolic content in the cvs Mioljnjaca, Žutica, Poljakinja, Karamut and Gradiscanka recommends them for their inclusion in a breeding programme. The cvs Mioljnjaca and Poljakinja are also characterised by large and firm fruit and since the antioxidant capacity affects the duration of fruit storage, it is expected that these traditionally grown varieties can survive longer and keep their valuable nutritional ingredients longer.

The yield potential of ten plum cultivars (‘Cacak's Beauty’, ‘Cacak's Best’, ‘Cacak's Fruitful’, ‘California Blue’, ‘Elena’, ‘Hanita’, ‘Katinka’, ‘Renclode Althan’, ‘Stanley’, and ‘Top’), exhibited through the structure of buds on long bearing shoots, was analyzed under the agro-ecological growing conditions of the Banja Luka region for two fruiting seasons (2012 and 2013). Long bearing shoots with collateral buds were the most productive type of fruiting branches, which is why the structure of buds on these branches is the basis for defining specific cultural measures in order to boost yield potential. Based on the established structure of buds on the nodes along the long bearing shoots and the established yield potential, the plum cultivars evaluated were classified into 4 groups: 1) cultivars with a predisposition to have a high yield potential, without need for specific treatments in fruiting control (‘Cacak's Beauty’ and ‘Top’); 2) cultivars with a predisposition to have a high yield potential with the application of cultivar-specific cultural measures for control of fruiting (‘Cacak's Best’, ‘Elena’, and ‘Stanley’); 3) cultivars that require differentiated cultural measures in the control of yield potential for regular fruiting (‘Cacak's Fruitful’, ‘California Blue’, and ‘Katinka’) and 4) cultivars that require innovative growing systems and specific cultural treatments to control fruiting (‘Hanita’ and ‘Renclode Althan’).

Detection of viruses presence were carried out for the 225 a of pome and stone fruit trees from the collection of the Genetic Resources Institute of University of Banja Luka, located within the Botanical Garden of the University, tested by DAS-ELISA. The pome fruit trees were analyzed on presence of the following viruses: Apple Chlorotic Leaf Spot Virus (ACLSV), Apple Stem Grooving Virus (ASGV), Apple Stem Pitting Virus (ASPV) and Apple Mosaic Virus (ApMV). The stone fruits were analyzed on presence of Plum Pox Virus (PPV), Prune Dwarf Virus (PDV) and Prunus Necrotic Ring Spot Virus (PNRSV). All samples were tested serologically by DAS-ELISA. In addition to this, virus negative pear and apple accessions were tested for 'Candidatus Phytoplasma mali' and 'Candidatus Phytoplasma pyri' presence using nested-PCR/RFLP analyses.