'Hanabell' is a new ornamental crabapple cultivar bred in 2020 at the Apple Research Institute, National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science, Rural Development Administration. It was selected from seedlings obtained through the open-pollination of Malus baccata collected from Mt. Palgong, Gunwi-gun, and Gyeongsangbuk-do. Line selections were conducted from 2009 to 2016, and characteristic tests were evaluated from 2017 to 2019. The tree vigor and form of 'Hanabell' were determined to be medium and spreading, respectively. The flowering season of 'Hanabell' starts on April 17th and ends on May 2nd, lasting approximately 15 days. The size of 'Hanabell' flowers is approximately 48 mm, larger than that of general apple flowers, and they have a high ornamental value due to the abundance of blooms each year. Furthermore, 'Hanabell' possesses a distinct floral scent that releases a significant amount of benzyl acetate (C9H10O2) into the air during flowering, attracting bees. Subsequently, 'Hanabell' was officially submitted for variety protection to the KoreaSeed & Variety Service in 2021(Applicationno.2021-144).

To confirm the applicability of crab apple, the composition and content of amino acids and minerals with ‘Fuji’ apple were measured. Apple and crab apple were extracted with water, 70% and 100% ethanol, respectively. The contents of polyphenols, flavonoids, and ascorbic acid, antioxidant activities of these extracts were measured. The amino acid composition of apples comprised a total of 17 amino acids. The total amino acid contents of apple and crab apple were 2,050.45 mg/kg and 900.05 mg/kg, respectively. For minerals, the total mineral content of apple and crab apple were 489.14 mg%, 529.77 mg%, respectively. The contents of polyphenols, flavonoids, and ascorbic acid of apple and crab apple extracts were highest in 70% ethanol extracts. The content of polyphenols, the crab apple extract, showed a generally higher content than the apple extract. The content of flavonoids, apple and crab apple extracts revealed no difference between extracts. The content of ascorbic acid, apple extract showed a generally higher content than the crab apple extract, but there was no significant difference between extracts. In the case of DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging abilities, 70% ethanol extract showed the highest antioxidant activity, and crab apple showed higher activity than apple extracts.

‘Buddybell’ is a promising crabapple variety developed as a pollinizer at the Apple Research Institute, National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science, Rural Development Administration, Korea, in 2019. This variety was selected from seedlings obtained by natural crossing of Malus baccata. It was collected from Mt. Jeombong, Inje-gun, and Gangwon-do. Line selections were conducted from 2009 to 2016, and characteristic evaluations were performed from 2009 to 2010. Tree vigor and tree form of ‘Buddybell’ were medium and upright, respectively. The first flowering time was early, around April 16, and the flowering period was as long as 14 days. The flowers of ‘Buddybell’ were pink in the balloon stage and white in full bloom. ‘Buddybell’ has a high fruit setting rate with major apple varieties(‘Fuji’, ‘Hongro’, and ‘Tsugaru’). The amount of pollen weight per 1,000 inflorescence of ‘Buddybell’ was 2.5 times higher than that of 'Maypole'; hence, it is highly useful as a pollinizer in apple orchard. ‘Buddybell’ was officially applied for variety protection on Korea Seed & Variety Service in 2020 (Application no.2020-237).

To utilize Malus pruniforia Borkh. as a functional material, cold-water (CW), hot-water (HW), and 70% ethanol (EtOH) extracts were prepared, and their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities were compared. The antioxidant activity of the HW extract evaluated by ABTS and DPPH radical scavenging and FRAP activity was significantly effective. The total polyphenol content of the HW extract was also higher by 15.5±0.7 mg GAE/g extract compared to other extracts. The EtOH extract showed significantly decreased TNF-α (39.8%), IL-6 (65.5%), and NO (34.9%) levels in RAW 264.7 cells compared to the LPS-induced control group. The levels of IL-6 (21.1%) and IL-8 (19.3%) were significantly decreased by treatment of EtOH extract in HaCaT keratinocytes induced with TNF-α and IFN-γ. The UHPLC-MS results indicated that the EtOH extract might have chlorogenic acid and phlorizin as the major compounds. This was validated using HPLC-DAD, which showed that the EtOH extract had higher levels of chlorogenic acid and phlorizin (1,185±58 and 470±10 μg/g extract, respectively). In conclusion, the present study suggested that the anti-inflammatory activity of the EtOH extract was more effective than the CW and HW extracts, and chlorogenic acid and phlorizin could be used as indicator compounds and functional substances.

본 연구는 액체에 현탁한 화분을 이용한 인공수분방법이 농촌의 노동력 절감과 '후지' 사과의 결실 및 과실품질에 미치는 영향을 구명하고자 실시하였다. 액체현탁화분의 화분발아율은 6시간 경과시까지 fructose 20% 용액에서 화분발아율을 20%수준으로 다른 용액에 비하여 낮은 발아율 유지하여 화분을 안정적으로 보존해 주었다. 인공수분 처리에 따른 정화아의 중심과 착과는 화분현탁액 65 g (/20 L), 무처리, 면봉 및 인공수분기(러브터치) 처리구들이 정상적인 결실을 보였다. 수확시 과실품질은 과형지수, 경도, 가용성 고형물 함량 및 산함량은 차이를 나타내지 않았다. 노동력절감은 액체현탁화분 처리가 면봉처리에 비하여 3.56배 감소한 결과를 보여 경영비를 줄이는데 우수한 효과를 보였다.

본 연구는 '후지' 품종에 대한 수분수로서 이용가능성을 확인하기 위하여 꽃사과 11품종의 특성 및 자가불화합성 유전자형을 분석하였다. 꽃사과 품종의 개화기는 '후지'에 비하여 개화시기가 2~7일 정도 빨랐고 화분발아율도 'Virginia'(74.4%) 외에 다른 꽃사과 품종들은 85.6~98.0%로 높은 결과를 보였다. '후지' 품종에 꽃사과 화분을 인공수분시킨 결과 착과율이 자연방임의 65.4%에 비해 'Adam's'는 76.8%로 11.4% 높았고, 나머지 품종들은 86~100%로 20.4~34.4% 높은 결과를 보였다. 꽃사과 화분으로 결실된 '후지' 품종의 종자수는 자연방임으로 결실된 과실에 비하여 13.8~42.3% 향상되었고, 과중은 346.7~376.8g으로 7.4~16.7% 정도 향상되었다. 과형지수는 무처리구 과실은 0.82로 비정형과 기준이었는데 비해 'Manchurian', 'Hopa A', 'Virginia', 'Prunifolia', 'Spectabilis' 등을 인공수분한 경우 0.87~0.88로 정형과 기준에 도달하였다. PCR분석을 통한 꽃사과 품종의 자가불화합성 유전자형을 확인한 결과 'Manchurian', 'Virginia', 'Sentinel', 'Adam's', 'Asiatica', 'Yantaishagou', 'Hanyaehanakaidou'에서 S3, S5, S9, S10, S20, S26이 확인되었고, 염기서열 분석을 통해 S5('Manchurian', 'Virginia')와 S9('Yantaishagou')가 보고된 자가불화합성 유전자형과 일치하였다.

꽃사과 열매의 anthocyanin색소를 식용으로 개발하기 위하여 에탄올 추출하여 광선, 온도, 당류, 유기산, 금속이온 및 pH에 의한 영향을 검토하였다. 본 색소는 광선에 안정하여 20일 까지도 60% 이상의 안정성을 나타내었고 광선 차단용 포장재를 사용 시 상당한 안정화 효과를 나타내었다. 본 색소는 열에 안정하여 115℃에서 10분까지도 67% 이상의 안정성을 나타내었다. 당에 의해서는 영향을 받지 않았으며, 유기산에 의해서는 색소의 농색화 효과가 높았다. 금속이온에 대해서는 Na^+, K^+, Mg^2+, Ca^2+ 및 Mn^2+ 모두 20일까지 안정하였고, Cu^2+에 의해서는 심각하게 저해되었고 나타내었으며 Al^3+에 의해서는 자색으로 전환되었다. pH가 낮을수록 색소의 농색화 효과가 높았다. 이상의 결과로 볼 때 본 색소는 우수한 천연 적색색소자원이다.

사과는 배우체형 자가불화합성을 나타내는데 이는 S-locus의 복대립유전자에 의해 조절된다. 본 연구는 S-allele specific PCR분석을 통해 신품종을 포함한 24종의 사과 주요 재배품종과 7종의 꽃사과 품종의 자가불화합성 유전자형(S-genotype)을 결정하고자 수행하였다. 31종의 재배품종과 꽃사과 품종 을 23종의 S-allele specific primer을 이용하여 분석한 결과 12개의 S-allele (S1, S2, S3, S5, S7, S9, S10, S16, S21, S23, S26, S29)이 동정되었다. 그 중에서 24종의 재배품종에는 S1(41.7%), S3(58.3%), S7(29.2%), S9(54.2%)의 S-allele이 흔히 존재하는 것으로 확인되었다. 국내육성 신품종인 ‘아리수’와 ‘황옥’의 S-genotype은 각각 S3S7과 S3S9으로 동정되었다. 본 실험에서 얻은 S-genotype 정보는 안정적인 사과 과실생산에 적합한 수분수 선발과 육종프로그램에서 교배조합 작성에 유용 하게 활용될 것이다.