Ladyzhenskaya O.V., Aniskina T.S., Kryuchkova V.A.

Prospects for growing ‘Karaka Black’ in Russia

Blackberry (Rubus subg. Eubatus Focke) occupies a certain place in the supply chain of berry crops in Russia. It ripens later than traditional berry crops, has a high self-fertility and adaptive capacity, which allows it to be cultivated in various regions of our country. The value of this culture consist in the large amount of antioxidant compounds in the fruits. The purpose of our study is to assess the economic and organoleptic characteristics of the blackberry variety ‘Karaka Black’ in the south of Russia. As a result of the research, it was found that ‘Karaka Black’ is suitable for industrial cultivation in Russia and meets the requirements of the market in a number of indicators: sugar content 8.95 brix, % rotten fruits after 7 days of storage at 4 °C is 7.5%, the percentage of rejected fruits after 48 hours storage at 20℃ - 19.9%. A comparative analysis of blackberry fruits showed that in New Zealand it is possible to obtain fruits with a sugar content 2.25 brix more, during storage, the damage of fruits is 6.3% less.

Keywords: BLACKBERRIES, FRUITS, BERRY PRODUCTION, CULTIVATED VARIETIES, ‘KARAKA BLACK’, BLACKBERRY, RUBUS EUBATUS, PRODUCTIVITY