Abstract

Kiwifruit production in Turkey has increased very rapidly in recent years due to the high nutritional content, especially of vitamin. The performance and pomological characteristicsof seven kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) cultivars (‘Hayward’, ‘Bruno’, ‘Monty’, ‘Abbott’, ‘Elmwood’, ‘Fatma’ and ‘Tere’) were investigated during 2002 to 2007 in the Eastern Mediterranean region, Adana (Turkey). The fruit yield was determined every year from 2002 to 2007, and fruit quality was evaluated between 2002 and 2005. The highest yield per vine was obtained from ‘Hayward’ and ‘Bruno’, whereas the lowest yield was from ‘Fatma’ and ‘Monty’. ‘Elmwood’ had the largest fruit size followed by ‘Hayward’. The smallest fruit size was obtained from ‘Tere’ followed by ‘Abbott’ and ‘Monty’. Vitamin C contents of these cultivars ranged from 78.00 to 52.38 mg ascorbic acid /100 g f.w. Fruit of Elmwood and Monty contained the highest concentrations of ascorbic acid followed by Hayward. For this area, it appears that the ‘Hayward’ variety is the most productive, has the largest fruit and highest vitamin C content.

Key words: Kiwifruit, Actinidia deliciosa, yield, fruit size, vitamin C.