Vo}arstvo, 41, 157–158 (2007) 25–30 UDK: 634.1.22;569.57.083.

3
Journal of Pomology, 41, 157–158 (2007) 25–30 Originalan nau~ni rad
Original scientific paper

Tegera and Elena – new plum cultivars in Bulgaria

Hristina Dinkova, Kalin Dragoiski, Boriana Stefanova

Research Institute of Mountain Stockbreeding and Agriculture, Troyan, Bulgaria
E-mail: kris05@abv.bg

Received 31 Avgust, 2006; accepted 9 February, 2007

Abstract. German plum cultivars Tegera and Elena were studied for their features of growth, yield and sensiti-
vity to major diseases. The research was done at the Research Institute of Mountain Stockbreeding and Agricul-
ture in Troyan, over the period 2001–2005.
Tegera is a self-fertilising, slow-growing cultivar with a compact crown, dark green leaves and an early ripening
period (mid-July). The fruits are large (40 g), dark blue with abundant wax coating, yellow flesh, sweet-sour ta-
ste and a completely separating stone. This cultivar was susceptible to Plum pox virus (PPV) and showed clearly
marked symptoms on the leaves and the damage to the fruits was very slight.
Elena is a self-fertilising cultivar with medium-fast growth, a widely open crown and a late ripening period (mid-
September). The fruits are medium large (30–32 g), purple blue with a stone that is not completely separating.
The cultivar was infected with PPV rather quickly, but the virus remained localised in separate parts of the crown.
The symptoms on the leaves were clearly marked and the damage to the fruits was very high.
In the conditions of Troyan, the bearing of mature plum fruits was prolonged by 30 days in both cultivars.

Key words: plums, cultivars, period of ripening, sensibility to Plum pox virus.

Introduction lerant cultivars, with different ripening dates, allowing

During the last 40–50 years, due to the grave epidemi-
ological situation of plum pox, almost all disease su-
sceptible cultivars have dropped out of the plum as-
sortment in Bulgaria. At present, most of the producti-
ve plum plantations consist of the tolerant cultivar
Stanley. Sufficient experience and skills have been ga-
ined concerning its growing and it completely shows
its growth and yield potential under our soil and clima-
tic conditions, but the growing of a single cultivar ca-
uses problems mainly related to the sale of fruit out-
put.
It is necessary to widen the plum assortment with
the greater possible range of plum pox resistant or to-
long supply of the market with high-quality plum fru-
its, suitable for both fresh consumption and canning.
In this connection, a wide range of introduced culti-
vars imported in 2001 under the Bulgarian-German
project FAMAD has been studied for years in Institu-
te of Mountain Stockbreeding and Agriculture (IMSA)
Troyan. Two of them are Tegera and Elena, particu-
larly suitable for prolongation of picking period,
owing to the early ripening time of the first cultivar
and the late picking period of the second one (Lichev
et al., 2004; Dragoiski and Dinkova, 2005; Dinkova
and Dragoiski, 2005; Dinkova et al., 2005).
This study was carried out with the objective to de-
termine the biological and economic characteristics of

25
these cultivars and their suitability for growing under
the conditions of the Central Balkan Mountain region.
Material and Methods
The study was carried out during the period
2003–2006 in a demonstration plantation established
in the spring of 2001 in the Institute of Mountain Stoc-
kbreeding and Agriculture in Troyan in an area of 0.5
ha with 4 x 3 m planting spacing. The cultivar ^a~an-
ska Lepotica was used as a control. The cultivars par-
ticipated with 48 trees each.
The following characteristics were recorded:
a) Vegetative characteristics of trees (Nedev et al.,
1979):
– Trunk cross section area (cm²);
– Crown height, (m);
– Crown diameter (m);
– Crown volume (m³) calculated by the formula V=
π d² x H/12,
where π=3.14; d – average diameter of crowns (m);
H – Crown height from the first main shoots to their
top (m);
– Annual growth recorded as average number of
shoots;
– Average length of shoot and total annual growth.
b) Reproductive characteristics (Nedev et al.,
1979):
– Yield – kg/tree;
– Average weight of fruit (g);
– Average weight of stone (g).
c) Chemical composition of fruits:
– Soluble solids (refractometrically);
– Sugars according to Schoorl;
– Acids, as malic, by titration with 0.1M NaOH;
– Tannins – according to Levental-Neubauer.
Annual observation have been perfomed to esta-
blish the symptoms of Plum pox or sharka disease.
Simptoms on fruits, leaves and bark were examined
according to a technique similar to that, suggested by
Bivol et al. (1986) and disease index (DI) was also cal-
culated.
______________________________________________________
Rate of susceptibility DI (%)
Nivo osetljivosti
______________________________________________________
Low/Nizak under/ispod 25 1 vered with a wax layer, sometimes with slight rust-co-
Moderate/Umeren 25-30 2
High/Visok above/iznad 50 3
______________________________________________________
26
The susceptibility estmation of the cultivars was
made by the scale as following:
DAS ELISA test by Clark and Adams (1977) has
been used in leaf samples for precise detection of the
PPV (Plum pox virus).
Results and Discussion
The first results of cultivar Tegera growing in Rese-
arch Institute of Mountain Stockbreeding and Agricul-
ture Troyan showed that at the 5-year age the trees had
smaller sizes than the trees of Elena and ^a~anska Le-
potica. They had a compact crown, the volume of
which was 30% smaller than ^a~anska Lepotica (Tab.
1). Their trunk girth, as well as their total growth we-
re also smaller, which shows that under the conditions
of our country this cultivar has moderately low to me-
dium growth vigour and moderate branching. Its sho-
ots were relatively short and thick, with a primary red-
dish-cherry colour and a covering grey colour.
Its leaf is dark green-coloured and glossy.
The buds are wide, with a sharp apex, chestnut-
brown.
The internodes are relatively small, so the crown is
compact. According to us, the cultivar is suitable for
establishment of intensive plum orchards, at smaller
planting spacing.
Cultivar Elena is characterized by moderate
growth vigour, the crown is spherical, wide-spreading
– 2.53 m average diameter. It is evident from table 1
that at almost the same height of the crowns of Elena
and ^a~anska Lepotica trees, the volume of the form-
er was 2.2 m³ greater, due to greater width of their
crowns. The cv Elena trees are characterized by grea-
ter trunk thickness, as compared to the other two cul-
tivars and in 2005 their trunk cross section area was
on average 27% higher.
The branch number, length and total annual growth
were smaller than the standard cultivar ^a~anska Le-
potica, so the crown looks loose.
Cv Elena began fruiting in the third year and the
yields per tree increased very quickly during the next
two years. The ripening time is late for the Troyan
conditions – mid-September, up to two weeks after cv
Stanley. The fruits are slightly pear-shaped and 25 to
33 g in average weight, which is 11% lower than the
standard cultivar. The skin is dark blue-coloured, co-
loured coats, the flesh is golden-yellow, with a plea-
sant plum aroma. The stone is not completely free. Qu-
Tab. 1. Growth characteristics of plum trees during the period 2003–2005
Karakteristike rasta stabala {ljive u periodu 2003–2005.

Trunk cross Annual growth/Godi{nji rast

Crown Crown section area
width volume Povr{ina Mean length
Crown height [irina Zapremina popre~nog Number Prose~na Lenghts Σ
Cultivar Year Visina krune krune krune preseka stabla of shoots du`ina Zbir du`ina
Sorta Godina (m) (m) (m³) (cm²) Broj izdanaka (cm²) (cm)

Tegera 2003 2.75 1.09 6.5 16.2 19.0 12.6 237.5

2004 3.21 1.56 3.4 29.8 21.8 21.6 470.5
2005 3.22 1.69 2.5 33.1 15.3 36.4 552.7
Elena 2003 2.88 1.46 1.8 14.5 11.7 13.0 155.2
2004 3.38 2.49 5.8 31.8 18.2 24.3 437.3
2005 3.79 2.53 6.7 41.2 14.0 29.8 420.7
^a~anska Lepotica 2003 2.57 1.02 0.8 9.6 10.0 18.0 180.0
2004 3.66 1.95 3.9 27.2 39.0 29.0 1132.0
2005 3.87 2.17 4.5 23.8 11.0 41.0 451.0

ality is good. The cultivar is suitable for fresh con-
sumption drying and canning. Cultivar Elena is gave
high yield, with a lower fruit weight than Tegera and
^a~anska Lepotica. It has a relatively smaller stone
and relatively high proportion of fruit flesh.
Cultivar Tegera begins fruiting early. The first fru-
its (single) were picked in the planting year. In the
third year, each tree retained a number of 20–30 fruits
to normal maturity, but in some cases even more. In
2004, 3 to 5 kg per tree were picked. In 2005 the ave-
rage yield per tree was 8.71 kg for cv Tegera and 8.16
kg for cv ^a~anska Lepotica.
The cv Tegera fruit is large, dark blue-coloured, co-
vered with an abundant wax layer, oviform with a very
short fruit petiole – 1.24 cm, so the fruits look like
strings on the branches.
It is evident from table 2 that cv Tegera has a rela-
tively large stone (1.6 g). It can be separated from the
fruit flesh easily and completely.
The flesh is yellow, juicy, crisp, with a sweet-sour
taste and a strong plum aroma. Quality is very good to
excellent.
Under the Troyan conditions the ripening begins in
the third decade period of July, i.e about 10 days befo-
re cv ^a~anska Lepotica. The fruits do not ripen quite
evenly, but they hold firm to the tree, if not infected
with Plum pox virus.
The highest yield per m³ of crown volume was re-
corded for cv Tegera and per cm² of trunk cross secti-
on area for cv ^a~anska Lepotica. In 2005, these cul-
tivars gave 2,51 kg/m³ and 407 g/cm², respectively
(Tab. 2).

Tab. 2. Reproductive characteristics of trees

Reproduktivne karakteristike stabla

Tegera Elena ^a~anska Lepotica

2003 2004 2005 Average 2003 2004 2005 Average 2003 2004 2005 Average
Prosek Prosek Prosek

Weight of fruit (g) 34.0 37.6 38.4 36.7 33.0 24.8 31.39 29.73 36.0 38.0 40.5 38.17
Masa ploda
Weight of stone (g) 1.6 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.3 1.4 1.2 1.3 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.6
Masa ko{tice
Relative proportion of stone (%) 4.7 4.4 4.4 4.6 3.9 5.7 3.9 4.87 4.3 4.2 4.1 4.7
Randman ko{tice
Kg/tree/Kg stablu 0.5 3.5 8.7 4.5 0.4 2.1 12.1 4.5 0.9 3.5 9.7 4.2
Yield per m³ of crown volume 0.08 1.04 2.51 1.21 0.20 0.35 1.81 0.77 1.01 0.92 2.15 1.36
Prinos po m³ zapremine krune
Yield per cm²/Prinos po cm² 0.03 0.12 0.26 0.14 0.03 0.06 0.29 0.13 0.09 0.13 0.41 0.21

27
Tab. 3. Chemical composition of fruits (%)
Hemijski sastav ploda (%)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Cultivar Soluble solids Total sugars Inverted sugar Saccharose Acids Tanins
Sorta Rastvorljive materije Ukupni {e}eri Invertni {e}er Saharoza Kiseline Tanini
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tegera 2003 16.9 11.09 7.83 3.06 1.21 0.166
2004 18.0 11.23 10.23 0.93 1.06 0.131
2005 20.6 5.12 4.78 0.34 1.16 0.158

Average/Prosek 18.5 9.15 7.62 1.44 1.14 0.152

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Elena 2003 15.0 8.43 5.03 3.23 0.80 0.062
2004 21.7 10.70 5.55 4.29 0.91 0.097
2005 17.5 13.30 5.69 7.27 0.96 0.067

Average/Prosek 18.1 10.81 5.42 4.93 0.89 0.075

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
^a~anska Lepotica 2003 16.0 11.05 7.15 3.71 1.47 0.104
2004 21.9 12.18 9.55 2.33 1.31 0.090
2005 14.2 9.83 7.75 1.98 1.03 0.158

Average/Prosek 17.3 11.02 8.15 2.67 1.27 0.117

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The results in table 3 show that in 2005 the earlier- number of the infected trees with Plum pox virus is al-
ripening cv Tegera had higher soluble solids content ready 6 (50%).
than Elena and ^a~anska Lepotica. That was due to the In the cv Elena infected trees the infection was li-
earlier time of ripening, which avoided the great amo- mited to separate branches, and the leaf symptoms we-
unts of vegetation rainfalls having exerted a negative re typically Sharka ones, very clearly and strongly ma-
influence on that parameter in the other two cultivars. nifested. The fruits of the infected branches also had
For that reason, the sugar content in cv Tegera and cv very clear Sharka symptoms, dropped prematurely –
^a~anska Lepotica, as earlier ones, was also low in one month before ripening.
2005. The higher succharose content in the fruits of cv The nature of virus infection was proved by DAS
Elena (4.93%), as compared to cv ^a~anska Lepotica ELISA.
2.67% and cv Tegera 1.44%, as well as the low content
of acids and tannins, is probably a cultivar characteristic. Tab. 4. Susceptibility of plum cultivars to PPV
The presented results of the chemical analyses of Osetljivost sorti {ljive na virus {arke (PPV)
______________________________________________________
the fruits of cultivars Tegera and Elena are tentative
Parameters/Parametri Tegera Elena
and do not characterize their qualities completely, be-
cause the sample number was small and the trees we- 1 Symptoms/Simptomi:
re at a juvenile age. a) leaves/listovi 3 2
Cv Tegera is infected with the disease of Plum pox b) fruits/plodovi 1 3
virus relatively quickly. During the first year after plan- - skin/poko`ica 1 3
ting (2001) there were symptoms on one tree. During - flesh/mezokarp 2 3
the third year there were 8 diseased trees (16,7%) out - stone/ko{tica 3 3
- preliminary dropping/preliminarno opadanje 0 0
of a total of 48 and at present (2006), in sixth vegetati- c) bark/kora NO NO
on, there are almost 12 (25%). The virus is evenly spre-
2 Type of infection/Tip infekcije SYS LOCK
ad on all crown parts. The disease symptoms on the le-
aves are pronounced. The external symptoms on the 3 Mean fruit mass - healthy tree (g) 36.7 29.7
fruits are scarcely visible, but the fruit flesh becomes Prose~na masa ploda - zdravo stablo
red and there are pronounced symptoms on the stone. 4 Mean fruit mass - PPV infected tree (g) 31.6 17.1
The fruits of infected trees ripened about 5–7 days Prose~na masa ploda - stablo zara`eno {arkom
earlier and their mean fruit mass was 14% lower 0 - None/ni jedan 3 - High/Visok
(Tab. 4). 1 - Low/Nizak LOC - localized on 1 or 2 branches
In cv Elena the first symptoms on one tree, out of a Lokalizovano na 1 ili 2 grane
total of 12 trees, were observed in 2001. At present the 2 - Moderate/Umeren SYS - Systemic/Sistemi~na
______________________________________________________

28
Conclusion
The plum cultivar Tegera has relatively week growth,
compact crown, dark-green, glossy leaves. The fruits
are large (35 g), dark blue-coloured, covered with an
abundant wax layer. The fruit flesh is golden-yellow,
aromatic and completely freestone. The cultivar is par-
tially tolerant to Plum pox virus.
The plum cultivar Elena is medium-susceptible to
Plum pox virus. It has moderate to vigourous tree
growth, wide-spreading crown, pubescent leaves. Its
fruits are violet to dark blue-coloured, pear-shaped, 25
to 33 g in weight. The fruit flesh is yellow. Juicy, not
completely freestone.
These new plum cultivars for the Bulgarian assort-
ment have different ripening dates (early for Tegera
and late for Elena). Therefore they prolong the period
of fruit fresh consumption from mid-July to mid-Sep-
tember.
The damages are admissible, in cv Tegera, in spite
of relatively quick infection with Plum pox virus, be-
cause the fruits of the infected trees have no visible ex-
ternal injuries and reach to picking maturity and can
also, be used for canning.
Cv Elena is infected with Plum pox virus relatively
quickly, but the virus is spread slowly in some crown
parts, so the losses are relatively low. Therefore, its
growing can be recommended only for regions with
weak sources of Plum pox infection, under spatial iso-
lation and use of PPV-free planting material.
References
Bivol T., Ignat V., Kukurusak E., Kegler H. (1986): Experiments on
resistans varieties and hybrids to Plum pox virus in Moldavia.
Arch. Phytopathol. Planzenschutz, 23, 6: 443–449.
Clark M. F., Adams A. N. (1977): Characteristics of the microplate
method of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detecti-
on of plant viruses. Journal of General Virology, 34: 375–383.
Dinkova H., Dragoiski K. (2005): New introduced plum cultivars
and possibility for growing in Bulgaria. Plant Science, 42, 1:
34–37.
Dinkova H., Stefanova. B., Dragojski K. (2005): Tagera – new early
raping plum cultivar. Agricultural University – Plovdiv, Scienti-
fic Works, Book 6, pp. 647–650.
Dragoiski K., H. Dinkova. (2005): Relation to the Sharka virus
(PPV) of some newly introduced german plum varieties at RIM-
SA – Troyan. Plant Science, 42, 5: 452–455.
Lichev V., Govedarov G., Tabakov S., Yordanov A. (2004): First re-
sults of testingstandart and newly introduced plum cultivars. Jo-
urnal of Mountain Agriculture on the Balkans, 7, 3: 292–301.
Nedev N., Grigorov Y., Baev H., Serafimov S., Strandzhev A., Ka-
vardzhikov L., Lazarov K., Nikolov N., Dzhouvinov V., Popova
L., Slavov N., Iliev P., Stoyanov D., Kunev I., Krinkov H., Vis-
hanska Y., Topchiyska M. (1979): Methods of studying plant re-
sources of fruit species. Fruit-growing Research Institute. Plov-
div, pp. 1–151.
29
TEGERA I ELENA - NOVE SORTE [LJIVA U BUGARSKOJ
Hristina Dinkova, Kalin Dragoiski, Boriana Stefanova
Institut za istra`ivanja u poljoprivredi i planinskom sto~arstvu, Trojan, Bigarska
E-mail: kris05@abv.bg
Rezime
Kod nema~kih sorti {ljive, Tegere i Elene, prou~avane
su karakteristike rasta, prinosa i osetljivosti na glavne
bolesti. Istra`ivanje je sprovedeno u Institut za istra`i-
vanja u poljoprivredi i planinskom sto~arstvu u Troja-
nu, u periodu 2001–2005.
Tegera je samooplodna sorta sa kompaktnom kru-
nom, tamno zelenim listovima i ranim vremenom
zrenja (polovina jula). Plodovi su veliki (40 g), tamno
plave boje, sa obiljem pepeljka. Meso ploda je `ute
boje, slatko-gorkog ukusa, dok se ko{tica u potpunosti
odvaja od mesa. Ova sorta je osetljiva na virus {arke
(Plum pox virus, PPV) i pokazuje jasne simptome na
li{}u, dok su o{te}enja na plodovima veoma mala.
Elena predstavlja samooplodnu sortu, {iroko otvo-
rene krune i kasnog vremena zrenja (sredina septem-
bra). Plodovi su srednje veli~ine (30–32 g), ljubi~asto-
plavi, dok se ko{tica ne odvaja u potpunosti od mesa.
30
Sorta je bila zara`ena virusom {arke dosta brzo, ali je
virus ostao lokalizovan na izdvojenim delovima kru-
ne. Simptomi bolesti bili su jasno izra`eni na listovi-
ma, a na plodovima je izazvana velika {teta.
U uslovima Trojana, period punog sazrevanja plo-
dova produ`en je za 30 dana kod obe sorte.
Klju~ne re~i: [ljive, sorte, period sazrevanja, osetlji-
vost na virus {arke.
Author’s address:
Dr Hristina Dinkova
Research Institute of Mountain Stockbreeding
and Agriculture
281, Vasil Levski Str.
Troyan 5600
Bulgaria