To improve farmers’ incomes by diversifying produce, Gyeongsangnam-do Agricultural Research and Extension Services developed a highly productive mini paprika, namely, ‘Raon red.’ Since 2007, various genetic resources have been collected and bred to obtain pure line separations for crossbreeding purposes. In 2012, a cross combination between an orange-colored female parent ‘MBO 008’ and a red-colored male parent ‘SBR 970’ was selected among the diverse crossings. The characteristics of the resultant F1, named ‘Raon red’ in 2014, were verified through field tests conducted from 2013 to 2014. ‘Raon red’ plants grew with a similar vigor to ‘RD Glory’ (control). The fruit of this variety weighed 56 g, twice that of the control; in addition, it had a stable shape with a bright red color. The soluble solids of the fruits averaged 10.2 °Bx and 1.6 °Bx lower than those of the control. Additionally, the fruit was 29% firmer than that of the control, and its pericarp was 29% thicker. The yield per 10a of ‘Raon red’ was 5,035 kg, twice that of the control. Overall, this new cultivar is expected to increase the income of mini paprika growers because of its high productivity (Registration No. 6375).

In this study, phenotypic distribution of 15 major fruit quality traits were analyzed using 252 progenies derived from a cross between ‘Tano Red’ (seed) and ‘Ruby Seedless’ (seedless), to obtain basic data for improving the breeding efficiency of grapevine cultivars. Berry skin color was dark red-violet in 46.4% of the progenies, which is the color of ‘Tano Red’ and ‘Ruby Seedless’, and berry shape was elliptic in 48.4%. Most of the progenies were very juicy with soft flesh, and closely related to the characteristics of ‘Tano Red’. Seeds were well developed in 67.1% of the progenies, rudimentary in 30.1%, and 2.8% were seedless, with seed weight being less than 0.15 g in 84.9% of the progenies. Among the 15 fruit quality traits assessed, bunch density, ease of berry detachment from pedicel, berry weight, berry seed number, berry longitudinal diameter, berry transverse diameter, berry soluble solids, and berry acidity showed normal distributions. Heritability of berry weight, berry longitudinal diameter, berry transverse diameter, berry soluble solids, and berry acidity was 0.89, 0.82, 0.78, 0.86, and 0.93, respectively. Berry weight was positively correlated with seed weight (r = 0.486^**), presence of seeds (r = 0.483^**), and seed number (r = 0.211^**). Seed weight significantly increased with presence of seeds (r = 0.607^**) and seed number (r = 0.725^**). In addition, presence of seeds was positively correlated with seed number (r = 0.319^**). These results could be useful for the identification of quantitative trait loci associated with fruit quality to assist in grapevine breeding.

In this study, we investigated the fruit and vine characteristics of hypo- and hyper-tetraploid grapes from which a chromosome was added or deleted. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possibility of developing seedless grapes by utilizing the characteristics of hypo- and hyper-tetraploid grapes. Both the hypo- and hyper-tetraploid grapes showed stable vine growth characteristics unlike other aneuploid plants, which displayed abnormal leaf morphology and unstable vine growth patterns, indicating that hypo- and hyper-tetraploid grapes can be used for commercial purpose. The hypo-tetraploid grapes produced 100% seedless fruits, with large berries ranging from 8.5 to 10.5 g, when the grapes were applied with 100 ppm gibberillic acid during their full bloom period. Although the fruits of the hyper-tetraploid grape were larger than those of the hypo-tetraploid grapes, it produced a lower percentage of seedless fruits. We conclude that the characteristics of hypo-tetraploid grapes may be exploited to develop seedless grapes with large berries.