A new early-maturing peach cultivar ‘Yumeiren’

Abstract:  ‘Yumeiren’is a new early-maturing peach cultivar which is derived from the cross‘Yubai’בXinhongpao’in 1992.‘Yubai’and‘Xinhongpao’are middle-maturing peach cultivar and early-maturing peach cultivar bred by Henan Agricultural University, respectively. The anthers of‘Xinhongpao’atbig bud stage were collected. 280 flowers of female parent removed the corollas were pollinated andbagged in April 7, 1992. 106 fruits of the cross were harvested and cleaned seeds were stratification treat⁃ment. 57 seedlings were obtained and planted at 0.5 m × 1 m in density in the next spring.‘92-4-1-2’was selected after more than five years identification and tests. After selection as‘92-4-1-2’in 2010,the bud wood from this selection was grafted onto Chinese wild peach‘( Maotao’) seedling rootstocks andplanted in four sites in Henan province. The cultivar comparison trials with‘Chunyan’as control wereconducted from 2010 to 2014 at each site. All testing trees were trained as open-center-natural formspaced 3 m between trees in rows spaced 5 m apart. The tree, flower and fruit characteristics of‘92-4-1-2’eventually named‘Yumeiren’were assessed in comparison trials from 2012 to 2014. After 5 years of eval⁃uation, the characteristics of‘Yumeiren’were obviously better than‘Chunyan’. Trees of‘Yumeiren’are moderately vigorous with a semi-upright growth habit similar to‘Chunyan’. Leaves of‘Yumeiren’tree have reniform nectaries, and the average leaf size is 3.9 cm wide and 16.0 cm long. The fruits of‘Yumeiren’are mainly set on long branches.‘Yumeiren’has been shown to exhibit higher yields than‘Chu⁃nyan’. This yield difference was increased with tree age. Full bloom date of‘Yumeiren’in Henan prov⁃ince was early-April as was control. The earliest full bloom of‘Yumeiren’was observed on Mar. 28 atNanyang which located in the southwest region of Henan province. The flowers of‘Yumeiren’are non⁃showy and fertile with abundant bright yellow pollen. The average ripening date of‘Yumeiren’in Henan was Jun. 20, about 80 d after full bloom which is 10 d later than‘Chunyan’. The fruit shape of‘Yumei⁃ren’is elliptic. The ground color of fruit is white with the surface covered in a pink blush. There is almostno fuzz on the skin of fruit. Thirty fruit samples were collected each year to determine their weight, fleshfirmness, soluble solids content, total sugar and vitamin C content. The average weight of single fruit is130 g and could be up to 205 g under necessary thinning with 15-20 cm distance between fruits. Fruitweight of‘Yumeiren’tends to increase as the trees age. The average soluble solids content in the maturefruits is 13.0%, which is higher than that of‘Chunyan’at 10%. Average total sugar content was 8.8%,which is also higher than‘Chunyan’. The vitamin C content is 75 mg·kg^-1, higher than control. Fruit of‘Yumeiren’is semi-freestone. The flesh is white and melting. The skin of mature fruit is easy to peel.The flesh firmness without skin is 0.33 kg·cm^-2. The shelf life is 5-7 d at room temperature.‘Yumeiren’was certified by the evaluation committees of Henan province in 2014 and has a good market prospects.