Physical and chemical characterization of Pescabivona, a Sicilian white flesh peach cultivar [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch]

Pescabivona is an autochthonous white flesh peach cultivar population from Sicily. The composition of four Pescabivona peach landraces (Murtiddara, Bianca, Agostina. and Settembrina) at three different growing altitudes was studied. Color, color distance, weight, pulp firmness, pH, soluble solid content (SSC), titratable acidity (TA), SSC/TA ratio, organic acids, sugars, phenolics, antioxidant capacity, and lactone compounds were determined. In general for the analyzed parameters, univariate statistical analysis highlighted only a few significant differences among the landraces and the altitudes, thus demonstrating a general homogeneity of this local cultivar population. Principal component analysis, as well, did not show a clear separation among the different landraces, in particular for Bianca, Agostina, and Settembrina. The physico-chemical analysis showed high pulp firmness, high lactone content, and a balanced SSC/TA ratio. Moreover, even if the pulp firmness values were quite high for Agostina and Settembrina, sugar and acid content were typical of fresh-market quality peaches. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.