HORTSCIENCE 56(9):1130–1131. 2021. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI15882-21 are currently planted belonging to this fruit typology. However, some of these new culti- MAGNA and BLANQ Series: Two vars are not well-adapted to Spanish environ- mental conditions (Font i Forcada et al., 2014, 2019). Yellow-fleshed and Three White- The Agro Selections Fruits (ASF)-Institute fleshed Nectarines of Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA) scion nectarine breeding program started in 2004 (Batlle et al., 2012) aiming to develop Carolina Font i Forcada, Gemma Reig, and Christian Fontich high-quality nectarine cultivars well-adapted Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology, Fruitcentre, Lleida, Spain to the typical edaphoclimatic conditions of Ebro Valley and other similar hot climates, Ignasi Batlle covering full harvesting period from June to Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology, Mas Bove, Tarragona, September (Cantın et al., 2017). Trees were Spain selected that produce high-quality fruits at both harvest and after cold storage, with the Sim o Alegre ultimate objective of satisfying consumers. Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology, Fruitcentre, Lleida, Spain Therefore, as a result of the continued effort from the ASF-IRTA nectarine breeding pro- Celia M. Cantın gram, the initial MAGNA and BLANQ series Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology, Fruitcentre, Lleida, Spain; of yellow- and white-fleshed nectarine culti- vars, respectively, have been recently released. Aragonese Agency for Research and Development Foundation (ARAID), These five new nectarine cultivars will Zaragoza, Spain; and Center for Research and Agrifood Technology of supply high-quality, firm, attractive, and Aragon (CITA), Zaragoza, Spain sweet fruit over 12 weeks, from mid-June until mid-September, in the medium chilling Iban Eduardo zone of Ebro Valley and similar areas (mod- Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology, Fruitcentre, Lleida, Spain; erate temperatures during winter, periods of and Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG)-Superior Council of fog during wintertime, summer temperatures Scientific Investigations (CSIC)-Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology of over 30  C, and yearly accumulated annual rainfall of 300–400 mm). (IRTA)-Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB)-University of Barcelona (UB), Campus UAB, Barcelona, Spain Origin Joaquim Carb o Regarding MAGNA nectarines, ‘MAGNA Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology, Mas Badia, Girona, Spain 2901’ was a seedling from ‘Redpearl’  ASF 01.23.15.02 NJ, and ‘MAGNA 3701’ was Arsene Maillard and Laurence Maillard from 01.16.13.02 NJ  ASF 01.24.93.02 NJ. Agro Selections Fruits (ASF), La Prade de Mousseillous, Elne, France For BLANQ nectarines, ‘BLANQ 2601’ was a seedling from ASF 11.01.290.94 NB  ASF Joan Bonany 01.01.02.00 NJ, ‘BLANQ 3001’ was from Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology, Mas Badia, Girona, Spain ASF 01.14.77.01 NB  ASF 01.07.43.01 NJ, and ‘BLANQ 3301’ was from ‘JMD698 Additional index words. color, fruit quality, Prunus persica, ripening, yield NB’  01.24.49.02 NJ. The continuous release of new nectarine [Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environ- Description [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] cultivars by ment (MAPAMA), 2021]. In Spain, the main breeders from around the world, together nectarine-producing area is the Ebro Valley Phenotypic and morphologic descriptors with consistent improvements in orchard that accounts for more than 60% of the total (tree, flower, leaf, and fruit traits) developed management strategies by growers, commer- Spanish peach and nectarine production by the International Union for the Protection cial interest in the production of fruit fresh (MAPAMA, 2021). of New Varieties and Plants (UPOV, 2010) consumption, and the introduction of new Among all type fruits (nectarine, peach, and the Community Plant Variety Office cultivars from Spanish scion nectarine breed- flat peach, and flat nectarine), nectarine is the (CPVO, 2015) were used to describe the ing programs have positioned Spain as the most produced in the last 15 years in Spain. MAGNA and BLANQ nectarine series (Sup- preeminent worldwide nectarine exporter and The most significant change in the Spanish plemental Table 1). currently the largest European producer nectarine industry in recent decades has been The MAGNA nectarine series (yellow- the development and introduction of preco- fleshed) generally have spreading growth Received for publication 30 Mar. 2021. Accepted cious new cultivars which generally have a habit, although ‘MAGNA 3701’ tends to for publication 11 June 2021. full red overcolor, good size, predominantly have some upright branches. Under Gime- Published online 20 August 2021. sweet taste, and slow-melting flesh. This nells climatic conditions, full bloom occurs This research was supported by the Research change started two decades ago, with the during March, and harvesting between July Centers of Catalonia (CERCA) Program/Gener- introduction of the yellow-fleshed nectarine and September. Both selections exhibit sparse alitat of Catalonia. We also thank FruitFutur ‘Big Top’ (Zaiger Genetics Inc., Modesto, density of flower buds (Table 1). (Spain) for their support of the breeding program CA), which has been widely accepted by The BLANQ nectarine series (white- and FruitFutur members for their help during the European retailers and consumers, offering fleshed) have spreading growth habit, although whole trialing process carried out at Gimenells. significant advantages in harvest and post- ‘BLANQ 2601’ and ‘BLANQ 3001’ tend to C.F.F. and G.R. contributed equally. C.F.F. is the corresponding author. E-mail: harvest management and fruit quality charac- have some upright branches. Under our cli- carolina.font@irta.cat. teristics (Reig et al., 2017). ‘Big Top’ matic conditions, full bloom occurs during This is an open access article distributed under the continues to be the midseason (July) refer- March, and harvesting between June and CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons. ence nectarine cultivar in Europe for fresh August. They all have showy flowers, with org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). consumption, with 95% of the cultivars that the exceptions of ‘BLANQ 2601’, which has 1130 HORTSCIENCE VOL. 56(9) SEPTEMBER 2021 Table 1. Comparison of several characteristics of the MAGNA and BLANQ nectarine series with the commercial standard ‘Big Top’ and ‘Garcica’ trialed at the Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology, Spain. Trait MAGNA 2901 MAGNA 3701 BLANQ 2601 BLANQ 3001 BLANQ 3301 Big Topz Garcicaz Flowering period 7–17 Mar. 8–18 Mar. 2–16 Mar. 8–15 Mar. 7–17 Mar. 4–14 Mar. 5–22 Mar. Harvest period 17–31 July 8–24 Sept. 20 June–5 July 21 July–8 Aug. 22 Aug.–7 Sept. 25 June–10 July 27 June–19 July Yield (kg/tree) 78.6 91.9 44.3 61.5 58.1 30.5 32.5 Flesh firmness (N) 50.2 60.1 47.1 50.2 52.0 39.5 44.5 Soluble solids ( Brix) 12.9 12.1 11.6 12.0 12.2 11.3 11.7 Acidity (gL–1 malic aid) 5.1 4.3 5.3 5.1 4.6 5.0 5.4 Red blush (%) 80–100 50–70 90–100 70–90 70–80 90–95 90–95 Dominant caliber (mm) 70–75 80–85 70–75 75–80 75–80 75–80 75–80 z Reference cultivar. campanulate flowers, and ‘BLANQ 3001’ and nearly 100% red skin colored, except for Literature Cited ‘BLANQ 3301’ present sparse density of ‘MAGNA 3701’ (Supplemental Fig. 1), Batlle, I., C. Fontich, L. Lozano, I. Iglesias, G. Reig, flower buds (Table 1). which could be considered a bi-color nectar- S. Alegre, G. Echeverrıa, F. de Herralde, E. For both nectarine series, there is no need ine. The fruits are generally round shape Claveria, R. Dolcet-Sanjuan, J. Carbo, J. for thinning at full bloom, as fruit thinning without a mucron tip. The presence of skin Bonany, A. Maillard, and L. Maillard. 2012. The will effectively optimize fruit size. lenticels is visible in ‘BLANQ 3301’ peach breeding programme IRTA-ASF: Aiming (Supplemental Fig. 1), weakly visible in for high fruit quality. Acta Hort. 940:75–78, doi: Performance ‘MAGNA 2901’, and low in the other culti- 10.17660/ActaHortic.2012.940.8. vars. It should be noted that hot climates such Cantın, C.M., F. Fontich, I. Batlle, I. Iglesias, R. All five cultivars were originally selected as Ebro Valley's are conducive to the devel- Dolcet-Sanjuan, S. Alegre, J. Carbo, J. as seedlings grown at selection plots and then opment of lenticels on fruit skin. In addition, Bonany, A. Maillard, and L. Maillard. 2017. grafted onto ‘Cadaman’ rootstock after selec- this defect is related to wood aging. However, The joint IRTA–ASF peach breeding pro- tion, being the fifth most used rootstock in these two issues do not seem to affect gram: Outstanding quality fruit adapted to the Mediterranean conditions. Acta Hort. Ebro Valley’s (Reig et al., 2020). Three or ‘MAGNA 2901’ fruits. 1172:151–154, doi: 10.17660/ActaHortic. four trees of each selection were placed at an Postharvest performance. Thirty fruits 2017.1172.29. experimental orchard of the Institute of Agri- from the first harvest of each cultivar were Community Plant Variety Office. 2015. Protocol food Research and Technology, Gimenells, kept at 0.5  C for 30 d and then for 2 addi- for tests on distinctness, uniformity and stabil- Spain (lat. 41 39'18.77 N, long. 0 23'31.41 tional days at 20  C. Each fruit was then ity. TP/053/2 Rev. E; elevation, 230 m). Trees were trained to an scored based on a visual rating of chilling- Font i Forcada, C., T.M. Gradziel, Y. Gogorcena, open or Catalan vase system (Iglesias, 2019), injury symptoms (mealiness and internal and M.A. Moreno. 2014. Phenotypic diversity spaced at 5  3 m. Each year, the trees browning). Each cultivar was then classified among local Spanish and foreign peach and received integrated pest management. The as having good, moderate, or poor long-term nectarine [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] acces- quantitative data presented summarizes the performance. The yellow- and white-fleshed sions. Euphytica 197:261–277, doi: 10.1007/ average values for 9 years collected on full- nectarines ‘MAGNA 3701’ and ‘BLANQ s10681-014-1065-9. Font i Forcada, C., G. Reig, R. Gimenez, P. Mignard, size trees. 2601’, and ‘BLANQ 3301’, respectively, L. Mestre, and M.A. Moreno. 2019. Sugars and Maturity time. Among the MAGNA nec- were the least susceptible to chilling injury organic acids profile and antioxidant compounds tarine series, ‘MAGNA 2901’ is a midseason after long periods of cold storage (Supple- of nectarine fruits influenced by different cultivar, whereas ‘MAGNA 3701’ is a late- mental Table 1). rootstocks. Scientia Hort. 248:145–153, doi: season cultivar (Table 1). Regarding the 10.1016/j.scienta.2018.12.010. BLANQ nectarine series, ‘BLANQ 2601’ Availability Iglesias, I. 2019. Sistemas de plantacion 2D: is an early-season cultivar, whereas both Una novedad en almendro, una realidad en ‘BLANQ 3001’ and ‘BLANQ 3301’ are The cultivars are protected by the Com- frutales: Hacia una alta eficiencia. Rev. Fru- midseason cultivars. munity Plant Variety Office, with the following tic. 67:23–44. Yield. The trees were harvested in two to registration numbers: 20113179 for ‘MAGNA International Union for the Protection of New three picks separated by 3 to 5 d. After har- 2901’, 20122741 for ‘MAGNA 3701’, Varieties of Plants. 2010. Guidelines for the conduct of tests for distinctness, uniformity and vesting, the whole production of each con- 20132984 for ‘BLANQ 2601’, 20122738 for stability to peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch]. trolled tree was graded for fruit size and ‘BLANQ 3001’, and 20113183 for ‘BLANQ TG/53/7 Rev. International Union for the Pro- weight using a commercial electronic fruit 3301’. Virus-free plants are available from tection of New Varieties of Plants, Geneva, grader (MAF RODA, Iberica, Spain). Total nurseries authorized by the Institute of Agri- Switzerland. 21 June 2021. . total number of fruits per fruit size were The plant material was laboratory-tested and Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment then calculated for each pick. Under our showed negative results for Agrobacterium (MAPAMA). 2021. Mar. 2021. . out for their high productivity and good merase chain reaction (RT-PCR)], Apple chlo- Reig, G., A. Alegre, C. Cantın, F. Gatius, and I. Igle- fruit size, regardless of their harvest season rotic leaf spot virus [via enzyme-linked sias. 2017. Tree ripening and postharvest firmness (Table 1). immunosorbent assay (ELISA)], Candidatus loss of eleven commercial nectarine cultivars under Mediterranean conditions. Scientia Hort. Fruit quality. Fruits of five cultivars were Phytoplasma prunorum (via RT-PCR), Peach 219:335–343, doi: 10.1016/j.scienta.2017.03.001. examined at commercial maturity, using sam- latent mosaic viroid (via molecular hybridiza- Reig, G., X. Garanto, N. Mas, and I. Iglesias. ples of 12 fruits per cultivar. All cultivars tion), Plum pox virus (via ELISA), Prune 2020. Long-term agronomical performance and were generally found to be sweeter than cur- dwarf virus (via ELISA), Prunus Necrotic iron chlorosis susceptibility of several Prunus rent commercial cultivars within each harvest ring spot virus (via ELISA), Xanthomonas rootstocks under loamy and calcareous soil period, juicy, aromatic, and crunchy (Table 1, arboricola pv. pruni (via RT-PCR), and conditions. Scientia Hort. 262:109035, doi: Supplemental Table 1). All of them are Xylella fastidiosa (via RT-PCR). 10.1016/j.scienta.2019.109035. HORTSCIENCE VOL. 56(9) SEPTEMBER 2021 1131 Supplemental Fig. 1. Typical fruit appearance of commercially ripe MAGNA and BLANQ nectarine series: (A) ‘MAGNA 2901’, (B) ‘MAGNA 3701’, (C) ‘BLANQ 2601’, (D) ‘BLANQ 3001’, and (E) ‘BLANQ 3301’. Supplemental Table 1. Comparison of several characteristics of the MAGNA and BLANQ nectarine series trialed at the Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology, Gimenells, Lleida, Spain. Trait MAGNA 2901 MAGNA 3701 BLANQ 2601 BLANQ 3001 BLANQ 3301 Tree Growth habit Spreading Upright to spreading Upright to spreading Upright to spreading Spreading Fruit development period (d) 125–134 181–192 98–118 127–144 155–174 Flowering shoot Thickness Medium Medium to thick Medium Medium to thick Thick Density of flower buds Medium to large Very sparse to sparse Medium to large Very sparse to sparse Very sparse to sparse Flower Type Showy Showy Campanulate Showy Showy Leaf blade Shape in cross section Concave Concave Concave Concave Concave Color Medium green Medium green Medium green Medium green Light green Petiole Shape of nectarines Reniform Reniform Reniform Reniform Reniform Fruit Size Medium Medium to large Small to medium Medium Medium to large Shape Broad elliptic Round Round Broad elliptic Round Dominant caliber (mm) 70–75 80–85 70–75 75–80 75–80 Mucron tip at pistil end Absent to weak Absent Absent Absent Absent Prominence of suture Medium Weak to medium Medium to strong Medium to strong Weak to medium Ground color of skin Yellow Creamy yellow Creamy white Creamy white Greenish to white Relative area of over color of skin Large to very large Medium Large to very large Medium to large Medium to large Hue of over color of skin Dark red Medium red Medium red Light red Dark red Conspicuousness of lenticels Weak Weak to medium Weak to medium Medium Strong Flesh firmness Very firm Firm Firm Medium Very firm Carotenoid coloration of flesh Orange-yellow Orange-yellow White White White Flesh fiber Moderate Strong Moderate Absent or weak Strong Flesh texture Crunchy and melting Crunchy and melting Crunchy and melting Crunchy and melting Crunchy and melting Flavor Moderate to intense Moderate to intense Moderate to intense Moderate Intense Postharvest performancez Moderate to poor Good Good Moderate Good Stone Shape Elliptic Elliptic Elliptic Elliptic Elliptic Tendency of splitting Absent or very low Absent or very low — Absent or very low Absent or very low to low Adherence to flesh Present Present Present Present Present Time of beginning of leaf bud burst Medium Medium Early Very early Medium z Good long performance, <25% of total fruits had mealiness and/or internal browning symptoms; moderate, 25% to 50% of total fruits had mealiness and/or internal browning symptoms; and poor, >50% of total fruits had mealiness and/or internal browning symptoms. 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