Influence of pollinizers on fruit quality characteristics in hazelnut cultivar 'Tonda Francescana®'

In central Italy, a study was carried out to investigate six cultivars ('Barcelona', 'Camponica', 'Nocchione', 'Tonda di Giffoni', 'Tonda Gentile delle Langhe' and 'Segorbe') as potential pollinizers for the new hazelnut cultivar 'Tonda Francescana®' and to evaluate how these could influence the commercial and qualitative characteristics of the fruits. Significant differences were found among the cross-pollinations in terms of fruit set, frequency of blank nuts, kernel percentage, and other nut and kernel quality traits. 'Barcelona' and 'Camponica' pollen gave small fruits with a high percentage of blank-nuts. 'Nocchione' and 'Tonda di Giffoni' had the highest fruit-set. However, the cross-pollination 'Tonda Francescana®' × 'Tonda Giffoni' reported the lowest values of total fat. Indeed, the cross-pollination 'Tonda Francescana®' × 'Nocchione' gave the best results - high final fruit set, kernel percentage and nut and kernel size, with a low frequency of blank nuts. Finally, the results obtained from this first study seem to indicate that the new cultivar 'Tonda Francescana®' has the alleles S20S23 or S10S23, to be confirmed in future research studies. The identification of pollinizers whose use gives high fruit set, a low frequency of blank nuts, and high commercial parameters of the kernels, is crucial to nurseries and growers as they choose cultivars pollinizers when designing orchards.