NCSU Cucumber Breeding Report - 2002
Todd C. Wehner
Professor
Tammy L. Ellington
Agric. Res. Tech. III
Department of Horticultural Science
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-7609
Pickling Cucumbers
Brinestock Evaluation
Spring (Stage 3) Pickle Trial
Todd C. Wehner and Tammy L. Ellington
Department of Horticultural Science
North Carolina State University
Introduction
Cucumbers from harvests 2 and 4 of the stage 3 spring pickling cucumber
trial were each placed in one brine tank at Mt. Olive Pickle Co. The tanks
were purged with nitrogen to remove excess carbon dioxide from the brine.
Methods
The cultigens (cultivars and breeding lines) were evaluated for fruit quality
(shape, external color, texture, seedcell size, and lot uniformity), firmness,
bloaters, and other defects in October. Quality was evaluated by judges from
industry: Phil Denlinger, Sonny Coghill, Lawrence Crocker, Bob Quinn, and
Tim Smith (Mt. Olive), Eddie Quill, Rachel Huerta, and Robin Foster (Dean Foods), Curtiss Cates, John Cates, and Duncan Malloy (Addis Cates Co.), and Bill Rankin (Harris Moran).
Fruit quality was evaluated using a rating system (that approximated letter
grades) from 1 to 9, where 9 = A+, 8 = A, 7 = A-, 6 = B+, 5 = B, 4 = B-, 3 = C,
2 = D, 1 = F. Bloaters and defects were measured as percentage of fruits with
damage in a sample of 20 grade 3B fruits. Firmness was measured by punching 10
grade 2B fruits with a Magness-Taylor tester (having a 5/16" diameter tip). All
cultigens were randomized, replicated and coded to prevent bias and provide a
measure of error variance.
Results
The cultigens are presented in order by decreasing fruit quality in Table 1, and
are ranked for resistance to bloaters and defects in Tables 2 and 3, respectively.
Fruit texture and firmness rankings are in Table 4. The average quality ratings
assigned by each judge in the test are presented in Table 5, showing how lenient
each judge was relative to the others. Due to insufficient replication, the
bloater data showed few significant differences among cultigens.
Summary
- The cultigens with best fruit quality in brinestock were Calypso, RZ-12-65,
HMX-0469, Cross Country, and Raleigh.
- The most bloater resistant cultigens were Calypso, RZ-12-65, Vlasstar,
SVR04506143, HMX-9466, Cross Country, and Wis. SMR 18.
- As usual, brinestock firmness (from the punch test) was only partially
correlated with texture (subjective rating from the judges), so the two
traits are measurements of different aspects of cucumber fruit firmness.
- Judges ranged from Foster, who was the most liberal in quality ratings to
Quinn, who was the most conservative. Analysis of variance indicated
significant differences among judges for the way they rated fruit quality.
However, interaction of judge with cultigen was non-significant (all judges
gave good cultigens high ratings, and bad cultigens low ratings).
________________________
z Thanks to Mt. Olive Pickle Co., Mt. Olive, N.C. for assistance in brining the
cucumbers, and for providing the facilities for evaluating the cultigens tested.
Thanks also to the personnel at the Horticultural Crops Research Station,
Clinton, N.C. for help in running the field trials.
Table 1. Brinestock evaluation - quality ratings (cultigens are ranked by
average quality).z
_________________________________________________________________________________
Cultivar Seed Average Extrnal Text- Seed Uniform-
Rank or line source quality Shape color ure cell ity
_________________________________________________________________________________
1 Calypso NCStateUniv 6.9 6.9 6.6 6.6 7.0 7.2
2 RZ-12-65 RijkZwaan 6.8 7.1 6.2 6.5 7.3 6.7
3 HMX-0469 HarrisMoran 6.7 6.4 6.6 7.0 6.8 6.8
4 CrossCountry HarrisMoran 6.6 6.3 6.6 6.5 6.7 6.7
5 Raleigh NCStateUniv 6.4 6.3 6.8 6.3 6.4 6.4
6 Vlasstar(10489) Seminis 6.4 6.0 6.8 6.7 6.7 6.0
7 HMX-9466 HarrisMoran 6.4 5.6 6.4 6.9 7.0 6.2
8 Colt Seminis 6.3 6.4 6.8 5.8 6.0 6.3
9 NC-Duplin(56x57 NCStateUniv 6.2 6.0 6.8 5.8 5.8 6.5
10 NC-Davie(54x55) NCStateUniv 6.1 6.2 6.6 6.0 5.5 6.3
11 SRQP-2752 SunSeeds 6.0 5.2 6.7 5.9 6.1 6.0
12 RZ-Componist RijkZwaan 5.9 5.8 5.9 5.5 6.2 6.3
13 SRQP-2606 SunSeeds 5.9 5.0 6.6 5.8 5.6 6.5
14 SRQP-2860 SunSeeds 5.9 5.2 6.9 5.7 6.1 5.7
15 NC-Dixon(52x53) NCStateUniv 5.9 5.8 6.4 5.6 5.6 6.0
16 SVR04506143 Seminis 5.8 4.8 6.2 6.4 6.2 5.5
17 Johnston NCStateUniv 5.8 5.6 6.6 5.7 5.4 5.6
18 EX04504229 Seminis 5.7 4.8 7.0 5.6 5.2 5.9
19 SVR04506116 Seminis 5.5 4.6 6.6 5.6 5.3 5.6
20 Jackson(3540) SunSeeds 5.5 5.5 6.5 5.0 4.8 5.7
21 Wis.SMR 18 Univ.Wis. 5.4 5.4 5.0 5.3 5.3 5.9
_________________________________________________________________________________
LSD (5%) 0.4 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.6
Mean 6.1 5.7 6.5 6.0 6.0 6.2
CV (%) 11 20 13 18 20 17
_________________________________________________________________________________
z Quality rated 1 to 9 (9=A+, 8=A, 7=A-, 6=B+, 5=B, 4=B-, 3=C, 2=D, 1=F).
Correlation (Shape with Uniformity) = 0.65**
Correlation (Texture with Seedcell) = 0.84**
Table 2. Brinestock evaluation - percentage of fruit damaged by bloaters
(cultigens are ranked by balloon bloater resistance).
_________________________________________________________________________________
Cultivar Seed Total Honey-
Rank or line source bloaters Balloon Lens comb
_________________________________________________________________________________
1 Calypso NCStateUniv 0 0 0 0
2 RZ-12-65 RijkZwaan 0 0 0 0
3 Vlasstar(10489) Seminis 1 0 1 0
4 SVR04506143 Seminis 0 0 0 0
5 HMX-9466 HarrisMoran 0 0 0 0
6 CrossCountry HarrisMoran 1 0 0 1
7 Wis.SMR 18 Univ.Wis. 1 0 0 1
8 Johnston NCStateUniv 1 1 0 0
9 NC-Davie(54x55) NCStateUniv 1 1 1 0
10 NC-Dixon(52x53) NCStateUniv 2 1 1 1
11 HMX-0469 HarrisMoran 1 1 0 1
12 RZ-Componist RijkZwaan 2 1 0 1
13 EX04504229 Seminis 3 1 1 1
14 Raleigh NCStateUniv 1 1 0 0
15 Jackson(3540) SunSeeds 1 1 0 0
16 Colt Seminis 2 1 0 1
17 SRQP-2752 SunSeeds 3 1 1 1
18 SRQP-2606 SunSeeds 2 2 1 0
19 SVR04506116 Seminis 2 2 1 0
20 NC-Duplin(56x57 NCStateUniv 2 2 0 0
21 SRQP-2860 SunSeeds 2 2 0 0
_________________________________________________________________________________
LSD (5%) 3 2 1 1
Mean 1 1 1 1
CV (%) 119 169 223 219
________________________________________________________________________________
Table 3. Brinestock evaluation - percentage of fruit damaged by defects
(cultigens are ranked by resistance to defects).
_________________________________________________________________________________
Blossom-
Cultivar Seed Total Placental end Soft
Rank or line source defects hollows defects centers
_________________________________________________________________________________
1 RZ-12-65 RijkZwaan 0 0 0 0
2 CrossCountry HarrisMoran 0 0 0 0
3 Colt Seminis 0 0 0 0
4 Calypso NCStateUniv 1 0 1 0
5 Vlasstar(10489) Seminis 1 0 0 1
6 Johnston NCStateUniv 1 0 0 1
7 NC-Davie(54x55) NCStateUniv 1 0 0 1
8 HMX-9466 HarrisMoran 1 1 0 0
9 Raleigh NCStateUniv 1 0 1 0
10 RZ-Componist RijkZwaan 1 0 0 1
11 EX04504229 Seminis 1 1 0 1
12 SRQP-2752 SunSeeds 1 1 0 1
13 SVR04506143 Seminis 2 1 0 1
14 HMX-0469 HarrisMoran 2 1 0 1
15 NC-Dixon(52x53) NCStateUniv 2 0 1 1
16 SRQP-2860 SunSeeds 2 1 0 2
17 Wis.SMR 18 Univ.Wis. 3 0 1 2
18 Jackson(3540) SunSeeds 3 0 0 3
19 NC-Duplin(56x57 NCStateUniv 3 2 0 1
20 SRQP-2606 SunSeeds 3 1 0 2
21 SVR04506116 Seminis 4 1 0 3
_________________________________________________________________________________
LSD (5%) 4 2 1 3
Mean 1 1 1 1
CV (%) 130 243 319 148
_________________________________________________________________________________
Table 4. Brinestock evaluation - firmness and texture of fruit, and resistance
to bloaters and defects (cultigens are ranked by firmness).z
_________________________________________________________________________________
Firm- Total
Cultivar Seed ness Text- bloaters Total Bal-
Rank or line source (lb.) ure & defects bloaters loon Defects
_________________________________________________________________________________
1 HMX-0469 HarrisMoran 19.4 7.0 3 1 1 2
2 Vlasstar(10489) Seminis 18.6 6.7 1 1 0 1
3 HMX-9466 HarrisMoran 18.4 6.9 1 0 0 1
4 Calypso NCStateUniv 18.2 6.6 1 0 0 1
5 Colt Seminis 18.2 5.8 2 2 1 0
6 SVR04506143 Seminis 18.1 6.4 2 0 0 2
7 SRQP-2752 SunSeeds 18.1 5.9 4 3 1 1
8 Wis.SMR 18 Univ.Wis. 17.6 5.3 3 1 0 3
9 EX04504229 Seminis 17.6 5.6 4 3 1 1
10 CrossCountry HarrisMoran 17.1 6.5 1 1 0 0
11 Johnston NCStateUniv 16.9 5.7 1 1 1 1
12 SVR04506116 Seminis 16.8 5.6 6 2 2 4
13 NC-Davie(54x55) NCStateUniv 16.4 6.0 2 1 1 1
14 NC-Duplin(56x57 NCStateUniv 16.4 5.8 4 2 2 3
15 Raleigh NCStateUniv 16.1 6.3 2 1 1 1
16 SRQP-2860 SunSeeds 15.1 5.7 4 2 2 2
17 RZ-12-65 RijkZwaan 14.7 6.5 0 0 0 0
18 SRQP-2606 SunSeeds 14.3 5.8 5 2 2 3
19 NC-Dixon(52x53) NCStateUniv 14.3 5.6 3 2 1 2
20 RZ-Componist RijkZwaan 13.8 5.5 3 2 1 1
21 Jackson(3540) SunSeeds 13.6 5.0 4 1 1 3
_________________________________________________________________________________
LSD (5%) 2.7 0.6 4 3 2 4
Mean 16.6 6.0 2 1 1 1
CV (%) 8 18 80 119 169 130
_________________________________________________________________________________
z Firmness determined by punch-testing (Magness-Taylor) 10 grade 2B fruits.
Correlation of Texture with: Firmness = 0.54**, Balloon = -0.22
Correlation of Texture with: Honeycomb = 0.10, Soft centers = -0.52**
Table 5. Brinestock evaluation - quality ratings assigned by the judges
(judges are ranked by leniency).z
_________________________________________________________________________________
Average External Seed Uniform-
Rank Judge quality Shape color Texture cell ity
_________________________________________________________________________________
1 Foster 7.4 7.2 8.7 7.9 7.6 5.7
2 Crocker 7.0 6.4 7.6 6.5 7.4 7.1
3 Denlinger 6.8 6.4 7.3 6.6 6.6 7.3
4 Quill 6.5 5.9 6.8 6.8 6.4 6.7
5 Huerta 6.0 5.3 7.0 5.8 6.5 5.7
6 Coghill 6.0 6.1 6.2 5.9 5.9 5.9
7 Rankin 5.9 5.5 6.1 5.8 6.0 6.3
8 Smith 5.9 5.5 6.1 5.5 6.0 6.4
9 Cates,J 5.6 4.9 5.4 5.4 6.0 6.0
10 Malloy 5.5 5.6 5.8 5.6 5.1 5.6
11 Cates,C 5.3 5.5 5.3 5.2 5.2 5.3
12 Quinn 5.1 4.5 5.6 5.3 3.9 6.1
_________________________________________________________________________________
z Quality rated 1 to 9 (9=A+, 8=A, 7=A-, 6=B+, 5=B, 4=B-, 3=C, 2=D, 1=F).