Flowering period and fruit quality of peach trees selections and cultivars in the metropolitan region of Curitiba

Abstract This study aimed to evaluate the flowering period and the physicochemical characteristics of peaches, aiming to find those most promising for the diversification of the peach crop in the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba, Paraná State. We evaluated 8 selections and three cultivars in Porto Amazonas and 10 cultivars in Araucaria for flowering period, fruit set, diameter and height of fruit, average fruit weight, the skin color, soluble solids (SS), titratable acidity (TA), ratio SS/ TA, hydrogen potential (pH). The flowering period occurred between late June and late September ranging from 16 to 25 days. The fruit set rate was greater than 50% for ‘Cascata 1513’, ‘Cascata 1429’, ‘Cascata 1577’, ‘Cascata 1743’ and for all cultivars in Araucaria. There were significant differences for the other variables assessed. It was concluded that in Araucária, ‘Charme’ and ‘Chimarrita’ are good planting options, have the same duration of the cycle (111 days), being ‘Charme’ a little later. Besides these, ‘Douradão’ and ‘Rubimel’ have good fruit size, moderate acidity and best SS/TA ratio, being earlier than the previous ones. ‘PS 25399’ is the earliest and showed reddish epidermis and great consumer interest. In Porto Amazonas, selections and cultivars tested produced little fruit of small size, being required more studies to be recommended in these area.