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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Fort Pierce, Florida » U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory » Citrus and Other Subtropical Products Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #377414
Research Project: Determination of Flavor and Healthful Benefits of Florida-Grown Fruits and Vegetables and Development of Postharvest Treatments to Optimize Shelf Life an Quality for Their Fresh and Processed Products

Location: Citrus and Other Subtropical Products Research

Title: Exploring citrus hybrids tolerat to HLB

Author
item Plotto, Anne
item Bai, Jinhe
item BALDWIN, ELIZABETH - Retired ARS Employee
item Stover, Eddie
item Driggers, Randall
item Manthey, John

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/19/2020
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: One strategy to combat the devastating effect of citrus greening, or Huanglongbing (HLB), is to breed and select varieties that are tolerant to the disease. This study is part of a larger project that identifies potentially commercial HLB-tolerant hybrids, as well as DNA markers associated with tolerance, to expedite future screening. Forty eight hybrid selections and commercial cultivars, chosen for apparent HLB-tolerance, were harvested over a course of three years, with some hybrids harvested multiple years and multiple times in a season. Fruit from scions showing some degree of tolerance to HLB were evaluated for sugars, soluble solids content (SSC), acids, titratable acidity (TA), bitter limonoids and volatiles, as well as sensory evaluation using a trained panel. Hybrids that were bitter with high limonoid content (> 5.0 ppm) were eliminated from the program. Tests confirmed the superior flavor, orange-like and/or mandarin-like, in U.S. SunDragon and Sugar Belle®, two recently released cultivars from USDA and University of Florida, respectively. Several other cultivars and selections also had good field performance and had good quality. Cultivars included Kinnow, Bower and Fortune. Unreleased HLB-tolerant selections FF-5-51-2, FF-1-85-109 and FF-1-85-124 also showed good orange-like quality attributes. We hope some of these selections will continue having positive characteristics, for use as fruit for the fresh market, or for the juice industry.