Comprehensive analysis of astringency traits in different cucumber culti-vars

XU Xintian; REN Siling; ZHU Xueyun; KONG Weiliang

doi:10.16861/j.cnki.zggc.2025.0412

Abstract：Astringency is an important trait affecting the tasting quality of cucumber.To identify ideal research materials for cucumber astringency,this study employed a sensory evaluation method to systematically analyze and compare the as-tringency intensity,stability of astringency traits,and spatial distribution of astringency intensity across different fruit re-gions in six cucumber cultivars.The results demonstrated significant variations in astringency intensity among cucumber cultivars,with H-1 and H-4 exhibiting higher levels of astringency compared to O-1,which showed relatively lower as-tringency.Furthermore,cucumbers cultivated in the spring season consistently displayed a higher astringency index(the intensity of cucumber astringency)than those grown in autumn,as evidenced by the measured values.The analysis of the range,standard deviation,and coefficient of variation(CV)of the astringency index revealed that the lowest range was 37.5(spring)and 47.5(autumn)among the six cucumber cultivars,with the lowest standard deviation observed at 11.49(spring)and 11.46(autumn).Most cultivars exhibited coefficients of variation exceeding 20％.Among them,H-3 had con-sistently high value for all three variability parameters,suggesting low stability of its astringency trait.In the spring sea-son,except for O-1 and N-1,no significant differences were observed between the mean astringency indices of May and June.In the autumn season,the mean astringency indices of all cultivars also showed no significant differences between October and November.However,single fruits harvested at 3-5 days intervals displayed varying degrees of fluctuation,with H-3 showing particularly pronounced variation.Except for H-4,the calyx segment astringency index of cucumbers was significantly lower than the peduncle segment,and the indices at the two segments were positively correlated.In sum-mary,substantial differences exist among cucumber cultivars in astringency intensity,stability,and variability.Under the conditions of this study,O-1 and N-1 exhibited stable low-astringency characteristics,H-1 and H-4 showed consistently high astringency,while H-3 displayed the highest variability.These findings provide a foundation for evaluating cucum-ber astringency quality and selecting materials for astringency-related breeding.