Influence of Cultivar and Harvest Date on the Productivity and Qualitative Characters of Apple Molasses

Bayan Mohammad Muzher^*(1) Ola Tawfeek Al-Halabi⁽¹⁾ and Anton Salim Anton⁽²⁾

(1). Pome and Grapevine Research Division, Horticultural Department, General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research (GCSAR), Damascus, Syria.

(2). Fruits Physiology Lab, Horticultural Department, GCSAR, Damascus, Syria.

(*Corresponding author: Dr. Bayan Muzher. E. mail: bmuzher@hotmail.com).

Received: 05/11/2018 Accepted: 16/12/2018

Abstract

The present research was carried out at Pome and Grapevine Division and Horticultural Department in General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research (GCSAR) during 2011 and 2012 seasons to study the effect of cultivar and harvest date on the productivity and qualitative characters of apple molasses. Apple fruits were collected from Golden delicious, Starking delicious and Stark rimson cultivars in two harvest dates 5/10 and 5/11. Apple molasses was manufactured and stored in normal room temperature for one year. Results showed that the second harvest date significantly produced more quantity of molasses than the first one in all studied cultivars, and Golden delicious cultuvar revealed highest productivity (7.4 Kg apple fruits/1 Kg molasses), while Starking delicious cultivar revealed the highest productivity than the two studied cultivars in the first date (11.1 Kg apple fruits /1 Kg molasses). Chemical analysis of molasses showed that the second harvest date showed the highest content of TSS, TS, and titratable acidity in all cultivars compared with the first one, and Starking delicious molasses revealed the highest content of TSS and TS (74.75% and 64.37%, respectively) in comparison with the two other cultivars. The results indicated that after one year of storage, there were no significant differences in the color, flavor and chemical components of molasses. Consequently, apple molasses as a new product characterized by good qualitative characters.

Key words: Apple, Molasses, Total soluble solids, Total sugars.

Full Paper in Arabic: PDF

Identification of Some Local Apple Cultivars and Genotypes Using SSR Markers

Bayan Muzher*⁽¹⁾ and Ola Al-Halabi⁽¹⁾

(1). Biotechnology Division, Apple Center Department, General Commission for Scientific Agriculture Research (GCSAR), Damascus, Syria.

(*Corresponding author: Dr. Bayan Muzher. E-mail: bmuzher@hotmail.com).

Received: 24/08/2016 Accepted: 27/09/2016

Abstract

The current research was carried out during 2012-2013 to identify and screening some of local apple cultivars and genotypes, which distributed in different environmental regions using SSR markers. Fifteen local apple cultivars and genotypes were collected, in addition to two commercial cultivars; Golden delicious and Royal gala and three seedling genotypes. Genetic analysis were achieved using 16 SSR primer pairs, 15 of them were able to detect the polymorphism in the studied genotypes. The total number of polymorphic alleles was 40, with polymorphism percentage of 97.56%. The number of alleles ranged between 1- 4 alleles, with an average 2.56 alleles per locus. Genetic similarity ranged from 13 to 100%. The Cluster analysis divided the studied genotypes into two clusters, the first cluster included Golden delicious with Royal gala and the two seedling genotypes A and B in addition to most of genotypes collected from the coastal region, and Skarji cultivar, while the second cluster included C seedling genotype besides the local apple cultivars Sukari1, Sukari2, and Shmamti, also four local apple genotypes. Expected heterozygosity (He) was 0.495, while observed heterozygosity (Ho) was 0.285. Consequently, SSR markers were able to detect the genetic variability among studied genotypes that belong to local apple cultivars, which lead to reduce the time and efforts for determining their genetic identity.

Key words: Apple, Local cultivars, SSR, Genetic similarity.

Full paper in Arabic: PDF

Econometrical Estimate of Cost and Production Functions of Non-Irrigated Apple in Suwayda Government, Syria

Alaa Al Zagout*⁽¹⁾ Safwan Abo Assaf⁽²⁾ Amgad Badr⁽²⁾ and Yehya Sharaf⁽³⁾

(1). Extension and Social Studies Department, Agricultural Extension Directorate, Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform (MOAAR), Swayda, Syria.
(2). Economic and Social Studies Department, Agriculture Research Center in Swayda, General Commission for Scientific and Agricultural Research (GCSAR), Swayda, Syria.
(3). Extension Programs Division, Extension Department, Agricultural Extension Directorate, (MOAAR), Swayda, Syria.

(*Correspoding author: Dr. Alaa Al Zagout. E-Mail: alzagout@hotmail.com).

Received: 04/05/ 2015 Accepted: 01/07/ 2015

Abstract

Apple production is an important agricultural productive activity in Suwayda, Syria, therefore this research aimed to estimate some measurements of the financial analysis, and costs and production functions of the available resources. The primary data was collected from Suwayda governorate using random sample of (268) observations during 2012. The main results of the study were as follow: Land rent, control, and pruning costs were the highest production costs of about 25%, 18%, 9% respectively. All farms within all scales were working in the first stage of the diminishing return law. The optimum size of the apple farm is about 9.5 hectares. The most important factors affecting apple production were: altitude, age of tree, phosphate fertilizer, potassium fertilizer, framer’s job, labor, invested capital, and summer tillage.

Keywords: Apple, Cost function, Production function, Optimum production size.

Full paper in Arabic: التقدير القياسي لدوال تكاليف وإنتاج التفاح البعل في محافظة السويداء