A new loquat cultivar Zaomao No.15

Abstract: Zaomao No.15 was bred from a cross combination of Zaozhong No.6 as the female parent and Marc as the male parent. In 2004, the artificial hybridization was carried out. The hybrid seeds were obtained and sown in 2005. After the seedlings emerged, RAPD was used to identify the hybrid population, and then 51 true hybrid seedlings were obtained. In the winter of 2005, the scions of hybrid seedlings were grafted to the main or secondary branches of Zaozhong No.6 loquat tree (intermediate stock) under promoted cultivation. Some grafting seedlings began to bear fruits in 2009 and all trees entered the fruiting period in 2011. Important fruit traits such as fruit weight, seed number, TSS, total sugar and titratable acid contents were selected to evaluate for three consecutive years from 2012 to 2014. In the winter of 2014, superior strain ZM15 was finally selected for top-working grafting and planted in Conghua, Guangzhou and Shenzhen for variety adaptability test. From 2017 to 2019, field observation, investigation and quality assessment were conducted on the growth and fruit of ZM15 in three consecutive years. The results showed that ZM15 had stable genetic traits, top quality, good stress resistance and high fruit commodity rate, and its comprehensive quality traits were superior to Zaozhong No.6. In 2020, we applied and passed the examination and approval of Guangdong Crop Variety Approval Committee with official name Zaomao No.15. This cultivar belongs yellow fruit type, and the ripening stage is from mid-March to Mid-April. The fruit is long-round to pear-shaped, the peel is orange yellow and easy to peel, the flesh is orange-yellow, the average fruit weight is 42.2 g, the average number of seeds per fruit is 3.3, the flesh thickness is 9.86 mm, the soluble solid content is 13.5%, and vitamin C content is 1.51 mg·100 g^-1 . The total acid content is 0.53%, and the edible rate is 74.4%. This cultivar is easy to initiate large amount of flower buds, and has high fruit setting rate, good yield performance, sweet and sour taste and good quality, which is suitable for growing in Guangdong and also has been tried in other loquat producing areas like Yunnan and Guizhou provinces.