Genetic diversity is invaluable to the sustainability of American horticulture. In the case of tart cherry, production in the United States is precariously reliant on a single cultivar, ‘Montmorency.’ Our research explores diverse genetic resources in tart cherry to promote utilization of high quality and locally adapted cultivars for plant breeding and improved production. Tart cherry nutritional quality is of particular interest to consumers. The United States Department of Agriculture Tart Cherry collection in Geneva, New York maintains 100 cultivars of tart cherry, including their wild relatives. Over a five-year period, we assayed fruit quality traits, including Brix, titratable acidity, and phenolic content. Total soluble solids (TSS) ranged from 10.9 to 20.7% (average=14.8%) and acidity (TA) ranged from 5.3 to 32.1 g/L (average=16.3%). The sugar/acid ratio ranged from 3.7 to 27.6 (average=10.2). Individual fruit weight ranged from 0.2 to 8.6 g (average of 5.0 g) and pit weight percentage ranged from 6-32% (average=11%). Total anthocyanin content varied from 75.2 to 3760.0 μg/g, with an average of 771.4 μg. We also evaluated bloom phenology over a three-year period. The distribution of bloom ranged from 56.7 to 134.4 GDD, with an average value of 86.0 Growing Degree Days (GDD ). ‘Montmorency’ bloom was above average with values around 95.8 GDD. Sweet cherries (63.5 – 90.6 GDD) tended to bloom much earlier than tart cherries (64.9 –118.0 GDD) and P. fruticosa, the wild progenitor of the tart cherry, bloomed the latest with a range of 85.3 to 134.4 GDD. For Brix, acidity, and phenolic content, ‘Montmorency’ falls significantly below average, though it has a balanced sugar/acid ratio. ‘Montmorency’ is lacking in anthocyanin content which is increasingly relevant for the juice industry. It tends to bloom later than other tart cherries evaluated, though there are some more extreme late bloomers. This data will be available through GRIN-Global, the USDA germplasm database to facilitate future research and breeding.
