‘Shiny Star’ is a cold-hardy seedless table grape developed by the Rural Development Administration (RDA) grape breeding program in Korea. In recent years, table grapes from Chile and the United States have been increasingly imported to Korea. The imported grapes are seedless and have nonslippery skin. Korean consumers prefer grapes with those traits rather than the traditional Korean cultivars, which are seeded and have more slippery skin. The imported cultivars are not suitable for cultivation in Korea because of the hot and humid summers and cold winters. ‘Shiny Star’ meets the demands of both consumers and producers in Korea. The cultivar Himrod is the seedless pollen parent of ‘Shiny Star’, which has greater cold hardiness than ‘Himrod’. ‘Shiny Star’ has yellow berries with soft flesh, nonslippery skin, a foxy flavor, and a mean weight of 3.8 g. ‘Shiny Star’ is not prone to berry shattering or cracking during storage or postharvest transportation, thereby increasing its marketability.
Origin
‘Shiny Star’ was derived from a cross between ‘Tano Red’ and ‘Himrod’. The cross was performed in 2001 at the National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science (NIHHS), RDA, Suwon, Korea. The pedigree is shown in Fig. 1. ‘Shiny Star’ was first selected in 2007 and tested as ‘Wonkyo RA-44’ in seven different locations (Chuncheon lat. 37°53′ N, long. 127°44′ E; Suwon lat. 37°16′ N, long. 127°02′ E; Yesan lat. 36°41′ N, long. 126°51′ E; Okcheon lat. 36°20′ N, long. 127°45′ E; Iksan lat. 35°56′ N, long. 126°59′ E; Jinju lat. 35°11′ N, long. 128°06′ E; and Naju lat. 35°01′ N, long. 126°43′ E). Own-rooted vines were planted in five random plots at each site. Fruit production and vine quality were evaluated from 2012 to 2015. Based on the evaluation, we named the selected line ‘Shiny Star’.
Pedigree of the ‘Shiny Star’ seedless table grape.
Citation: HortScience horts 55, 4; 10.21273/HORTSCI14718-19
Description and Performance
‘Shiny Star’, ‘Himrod’, and ‘Campbell Early’ vines were grown in Suwon, Korea. ‘Campbell Early’ is the most commonly grown grape cultivar in Korea. The vines were trained to a modified T-trellis (2.7-m single arm), and 27 shoots per vine were maintained by spur pruning. The vines were spaced 2.7 m × 2.7 m apart, which provided a vineyard density of 1200 vines/ha. Standard table grape culture practices were used.
Berry, cluster, and vine characteristics were evaluated annually from 2012 to 2015. The average values reported for the various characteristics were based on data collected from five replicate vines grown in the Suwon area during each harvest year. Fifty berries were randomly collected from five different vines, with two clusters taken from each vine and five berries collected from each cluster. The berries were used to determine berry weight, soluble solids content, and titratable acidity.
Using the adjusted injury percentage data, the temperature at which the rate of injury was greatest (Tmax) was calculated using the Gompertz function (Lim et al., 1998).
Flowers.
‘Shiny Star’ has perfect, self-pollinating flowers. The flowers bloom late in the season (approximately 7 June in Suwon, Korea) after a late-season budbreak (1 May).
Berry characteristics.
‘Shiny Star’ berries are seedless. The seed traces are very small and barely discernible, with a fresh weight of 1.57 mg, or 62% of that of ‘Himrod’ seed traces (2.54 mg). The ‘Shiny Star’ berry skin has medium thickness compared with the ‘Himrod’ berry skin and adheres to the flesh. The berries are round, of medium size, and have an average weight of 3.8 g (Table 1). ‘Shiny Star’ berries have a weight similar to that of seedless ‘Himrod’ berries, but they weigh less than seeded ‘Campbell Early’ berries. ‘Shiny Star’ ripens between 26 Aug. and 4 Sept. in Suwon, Korea, similar to ‘Campbell Early’, but 11 d later than ‘Himrod’. The average soluble solids content of ‘Shiny Star’ berries is 19.5 °Brix, which is higher than that of ‘Campbell Early’ (15.1 °Brix) and ‘Himrod’ (18.5 °Brix) berries. The titratable acidity of ‘Shiny Star’ berries is 0.54%, which is similar to that of ‘Campbell Early’ berries and higher than that of ‘Himrod’ berries. The grapes have a foxy flavor when fully ripe.
Characteristics of three table grape cultivars grown in Suwon, Korea, from 2012 to 2015.
Cluster characteristics.
The average cluster weight of ‘Shiny Star’ is 330.8 g. The clusters are conical, sometimes cylindrical, and the berries are set tight in the cluster (Fig. 2). The uniform shape and yellow skin color of the berries result in an excellent cluster appearance. The harvested clusters were stored at −2 °C with ≈70% to 80% relative humidity for 2 months. Berry shattering and cracking rarely occurred during storage. Six-year-old ‘Shiny Star’ vines yielded ≈21,400 kg/ha. In comparison, the yields of ‘Himrod’ and ‘Campbell Early’ were ≈14,600 kg/ha and 24,100 kg/ha, respectively.
Clusters of ‘Shiny Star’ seedless table grapes.
Citation: HortScience horts 55, 4; 10.21273/HORTSCI14718-19
Vine characteristics.
‘Shiny Star’ vines with their own roots had slightly vigorous growth. The vines had a uniform cluster size and ripening period as a result of spur pruning. The vines were observed to be moderately resistant to downy mildew (Plasmopara viticola Berl. & de Toni) and resistant to powdery mildew (Erysiphe necator Schw.) during cultivation.
Cold hardiness evaluation.
During the test period (2012–15), the lowest average monthly temperature in Suwon was −8.1 °C (Dec. 2012), and the lowest average temperature for a single day was −18.1 °C (4 Jan. 2013). None of the three cultivars assessed for cold hardiness were damaged by cold temperatures in the field. The Tmax values for the three cultivars ranged from −24.7 ± 0.16 °C to −28.2 ± 0.11 °C (Table 2). The cold hardiness of ‘Shiny Star’ was similar to that of ‘Campbell Early’ and greater than that of ‘Himrod’. The latter is widely cultivated in New York (Reisch et al., 1993), indicating that ‘Shiny Star’ can be cultivated in similarly cold regions such as Korea.
Cold hardiness of the shoots of the three table grape cultivars.
Availability
‘Shiny Star’ was registered at the Korea Seed and Variety Service in 2018. Requests for nonindexed cuttings for research purposes may be addressed to Youn Young Hur (E-mail: yyhur76@korea.kr).
Literature Cited
Arora, R., Winsniewski, M.E. & Scorza, R. 1992 Cold acclimation in genetically related (sibling) deciduous and evergreen peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch]. 1. Seasonal changes in cold hardiness and polypeptides of bark and xylem tissues Plant Physiol. 99 1562 1568
Lee, J.I., Yu, D.J., Lee, J.H., Kim, S.J. & Lee, H.J. 2013 Comparison of mid-winter cold-hardiness and soluble sugars contents in the shoots of 21 highbush blue berry (Vaccinium corymbosum) cultivars J. Hort. Sci. Biotechnol. 88 727 734
Lim, C.C., Aurora, R. & Townsend, E.C. 1998 Comparing Gompertz and Richards functions to estimate freezing injury in Rhododendron using electrolyte leakage J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 123 246 252
Reisch, B.I., Pool, R.M., Peterson, D.V. & Martens, M.-H. 1993 Table grape varieties for cool climates. Information Bulletin 234, 3 p. Cornell Coop. Ext., Cornell Univ., Genevar, NY. Unauthenticated