Abstract:

The comprehensive evaluation of 20 fruit quality attributes including 6 appearance indices and 14 inherent
nutritional qualities was carried out on 3 superior clones of Zizyphus jujuba cv. Huizao based on factor analysis. The results
showed that different clones of Zizyphus jujuba cv. Huizao had different degrees of variation in fruit quality indices, with
only small variations observed in the percentage of edible portion, horizontal diameter and fruit shape index and relatively
large variations in sugar/acid ratio and the contents of reducing VC, soluble proteins, flavonoids, zinc and copper. Factor
analysis extracted 3 common factors with characteristic roots > 1 and a cumulative variance contribution rate of 100%, which
could fully reflect the information on the fruit quality. ‘Huizao’ clone 1 was evaluated to score highest for overall sensory
quality, followed by clone 7. Both clones belonged to a larger and longer fruit with high sugar content and sweet taste. The
overall sensory score of clone 8, which belonged to a smaller fruit with low sugar content and acidic taste, was lower than
that of clone 7. The three clones showed advantages in terms of different individual indicators.

Key words: Zizyphus jujuba cv. Huizao, superior clones, fruit quality, factor analysis, comprehensive evaluation