The quality of the eight local apple cultivars (‘Alvanija’, ‘Kardinal’, ‘Križara’, ‘Majdofija’, ‘Muškatnica’, ‘Slastica’, ‘Slatka srčika’ and ‘Punika’) was studied. Cultivar ‘Kardinal’ had the highest fruit mass, and the cultivar ‘Slastica’ had the lowest. There was no significant difference in fruit mass between the cultivars ‘Kardinal’ and ‘Majdofi ja’. Cultivar ‘Alvanija’ had the highest fruit height and cultivar ‘Križara’ had the smallest. Cultivar ‘Kardinal’ had the widest fruits, and cultivar ‘Križara’ had the narrowest. Cultivar ‘Alvanija’ had the highest shape index, and cultivars ‘Križara’ and ‘Majdofija’ had the lowest. The highest firmness had cultivars ‘Majdofija’ and ‘Slastica’, between which there was no statistically significant difference. Cultivars ‘Kardinal’, ‘Križara’ and ‘Punika’ had significantly lower fruit firmness but still significantly higher than cultivar ‘Muškatnica’. Cultivar ‘Slastica’ had the highest soluble solids content, and cultivar ‘Križara’ had the lowest. Cultivar ‘Križara’ received significantly lower panelist score for crispness, texture and juiciness than cultivar ‘Majdofija’.
Cultivars ‘Kardinal’ and ‘Majdofi ja’ received better scores for taste attributes than other cultivars. Panelist scores for fruit shape and general impression were the highest for the cultivars ‘Kardinal’ and ‘Madofija’. There was no significant difference in panelist scores for fruit size between these cultivars and cultivars ‘Alvanija’ and ‘Križara’. It was concluded that the most promising cultivars are ‘Majdofija’ and ‘Kardinal’.
However, to fully evaluate their potential, comparison with other cultivars in the standard growing conditions during long-term research is needed.

Malus x domestica Borkh.; fruit quality; sensory analysis; conservation; pomology; biodiversity

Published by University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagreb, CROATIA
Sponsored by Ministry Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia