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Fruit crops are an irreplaceable source of essential nutrients, macro- and microelements, vitamins, organic acids, and antioxidants. Today, the overwhelming part of fruit supply in the market is provided by foreign producers. Import substitution and meeting the demand of the Russian Federation population for fruit consumption by the domestic agro-industrial complex is impossible without expanding the geography of cultivation areas, including those in zones of risky agriculture, which requires breeding of frost-resistant (cold-resistant) cultivars (fruit crops). Application of modern biotechnological and molecular genetic methods in breeding work will increase the profitability of fruit growing by reducing the time required for obtaining plants with the desired traits and by complex evaluation of the prospects of genotypes of parental forms. The present review considers modern data on cold tolerance genes of various fruit and berry crops, summarizes the known mechanisms of their action, activation, and regulation.The review considers modern data on genes of fruit and berry crops resistance to low temperatures, including characterization of genes encoding key receptors, signaling, effector proteins, and transcription factors in apple, pear, peach, pineapple, and strawberry. The known mechanisms of their operation, activation, regulation are given, and signaling cascades are described.

Cherries (Prunus avium L.) are valued for their taste and nutritional properties. However, they are highly perishable. A low-temperature preservation technology can preserve cherries without spoiling their beneficial properties. This research experimentally substantiated the optimal methods and modes of freezing cherries, defined their refrigerated shelf-life, and identified varieties for low-temperature preservation. The study featured cherries of eight varieties grown in the northern foothills of Dagestan. Fresh cherries served as control. Some cherries were frozen by immersion in a liquid solution of water, alcohol, and sugar (65:20:15) at –24°C. Others were frozen in bulk in air at –30, –33, and –35°C to be stored at –22°C for 3, 9, and 12 months. The nutritional profile was determined by standard methods of chemical analysis. The amount of juice lost during defrosting was assessed by the difference in weight before and after defrosting. The sensory evaluation involved a five-point scale. The best nutritional profile belonged to the sample frozen in air at –35°C while the worst result was observed in the cherries frozen at –30°C. The cherries frozen in bulk in air at –33°C and those immersed in liquid coolant at –24°C demonstrated a poorer nutritional content (by 4.2–5.4%) than the sample frozen in air at –35°C. The sample frozen in air preserved 77.5–81.6% vitamin C, 83.7–89.0% pectin substances, 85.1–88.5% anthocyanins, and 81.4–86.4% sugar after 12 months of storage at –22°C. The sample frozen in liquid coolant retained 75.9–79.0% vitamin C, 84.4–88.2% pectin substances, 83.8–87.5% anthocyanins, and 80.3–84.7% sugar after 12 months of storage. The cherries of the Lezginka, Dagestanka, and Valery Chkalov varieties showed minimal changes after 12 months. The varieties of Buynakskaya, Krupnoplodnaya, and Polyanka could be recommended for nine-month storage. The varieties of Zhemchuzhnaya and Gudzon lost consumer attractiveness as early as after 3 months. When frozen in bulk in air at –33°C and immersed in liquid coolant at –24°C, the cherries preserved their physicochemical properties after 3, 9, and 12 months of storage at –22°C. The study expanded the existing data about low-temperature preservation of cherries and their health benefits.

In 2023, the 95th anniversary has been commemorated since the birth of Professor Vsevolod L. Vitkovsky, Doctor of Biological Sciences, a prominent scientist and fruit expert, one of the eldest staff members of the Department of Fruit Crop Genetic Resources at the Vavilov Institute.

The paper covers the results of the civic science project that involved VIR partners – Russian Geographical Society, Russian Schoolchildren’s Movement and the Association of Communicators in Education and Science – as organizers and schoolchildren, students and their parents from different regions of Russia as participants. The project, started in 2020 with observations of a single crop – an apple tree, elicited a positive response from motivated schoolchildren and was continued in 2021–2022 with the inclusion of various fruit and berry crops. In the course of the three years of the project, a phenological database was replenished with 3340 entries made by 670 project participants.

Recently, the trend of using fruit and berry crops as ingredients for functional and dietary nutrition, the development and implementation of flavors, pigments, new medicines and dietary supplements has been actualized. Because the direction of use depends on the biochemical properties of fruits, which are determined not only by species and varietal characteristics, but also by reproduction conditions, the study of the biochemical composition of fruits grown in various regions of the world continues to be relevant. In this regard, the collection of N.I. Vavilov Institute (VIR), which has a wide diversity of fruit and berry crops, is of great interest for study. Ribes nigrum fruits have a balanced set of sugars, organic acids, essential oils, microelements, a high content of vitamins, anthocyanins, pectins. Lonicera caerulea fruits are characterized by high values of phenolic substances: bioflavonoids, hydroxycinnamic acids, flavonols, polyphenols, anthocyanins, as well as vitamins, carotenoids, iridoid glycosides and other natural antioxidants. The investigation of L. caerulea and R. nigrum fruit’s accessions from the VIR collection using gas-liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry allows us to obtain new information about the biochemical characteristics of fruits, to identify L. caerulea and R. nigrum varieties with optimal economically valuable characteristics, to determine the specificity of L. caerulea and R. nigrum metabolomic spectra in the setting of Northwest Russia. As a result of the analysis, typical compounds of the metabolomic profile of each culture were identified. Organic acids, phenol-containing compounds and polyols prevailed in L. caerulea, while mono- and oligosaccharides, in R. nigrum. The qualitative composition of the black currant varieties ‘Malen’kii Printz’, ‘Dobriyi Dzhinn’, ‘Tisel’, ‘Orlovskii Val’s’, and blue honeysuckle ‘S 322-4’, ‘Malvina’, ‘Leningradsky Velikan’ was optimal for food consumption; the varieties of blue honeysuckle ‘Bazhovskaya’ and black currant ‘Aleander’ had a good representation of biologically active compounds, which makes samples attractive as raw materials for the production of biologically active additives, including with the use of microorganisms’ cultures.

Background. Honeysuckle is a promising berry crop for food and medical uses, which has recently become increasingly popular. Searching for sources with high content of bioactive substances to obtain new fruit cultivars with improved chemical composition continues to be relevant. Anthocyanin content and composition in honeysuckle cultivars depend on many factors, including plant reproduction conditions (temperature and humidity). Studying chemical composition of Siberian honeysuckle cultivars grown under the conditions of Western Siberia will make it possible to identify sources of high BAS content for various uses.Materials and methods. The target materials of the study were fruits of 21 honeysuckle cultivars grown in Western Siberia before and after freezing. The qualitative and quantitative composition of anthocyanins was assessed in ethanol extracts of honeysuckle fruits using HPLC technique.Results. The content of anthocyanins was higher in the fruits of honeysuckle grown in Western Siberia compared with the published data for the same cultivars reproduced in Belgorod Province (Central Black Earth Region). After freezing, the anthocyanin level in honeysuckle fruits remained the same and in some cases even increased.Conclusions. The obtained data helped to ascertain that honeysuckle fruits reproduced in Western Siberia are valuable sources of such bioactive compounds as anthocyanins.

The Middle Urals is a region of risky agriculture. Apple cultivars of more southern origin are usually unpromising due to insufficient level of hardiness, so there is a need to develop and deploy local apple-tree cultivars. The staff of Sverdlovsk Horticultural Breeding Station released a new apple cultivar, ‘Sverdlovchanin’. This cultivar is notable for high winter hardiness, productivity (average yield is ca. 18.0 t/ha), and low fruit shedding rate at harvest maturity. Its fruits are beautiful, uniform, yellow, roundish, weighing 110 g (maximum 205 g), with a very good sweet and sour dessert flavor. The ripening time under the conditions of the Middle Urals is usually late September, and fruits can be stored until the end of February. The author of this cultivar is L. A. Kotov The apple cultivar ‘Sverdlovchanin’ was included in the State Register of Breeding Achievements of the Russian Federation in 2018.

The use of adaptable fruit and berry cultivars significantly increases the environmental sustainability of horticulture. In 2014–2018, the assortment of plum in the Urals was evaluated using the parameters of productivity, environmental plasticity and stability under the conditions of Chelyabinsk Province. The analysis of environmental plasticity and stability helped to identify adaptable cultivars of Chinese plum (Prúnus salicina L.): ‘Altayskaya yubileynaya’ and ‘Uralskaya zolotistaya’. Plastic plum cultivars included cv. ‘Uralskaya zolotistaya’ (yield: 5.62 t/ha; bi = 1.10; Si2 = 25.7), ‘Uralskaya serebristaya’ (5.53 t/ha; 1.16; 21.3) and ‘Manchzhurskaya krasavitsa’ (5.53 t/ha; 1.21; 33.9); their productivity varied in accordance with changes in environmental conditions. Intensive-type cultivars with high responsiveness to the improvement of growing conditions (bi significantly higher than 1) were cvs. ‘Uvelskaya’ (5.62 t/ha; 1.46; 26.8) and ‘Krasnoselskaya’ (5.04 t/ha; 1.35; 45.7). Cv. ‘Zhemchuzhina Urala’ (4.65 t/ha; 0.05; 22.8) belongs to the cultivars with low plasticity (the bi value close to zero); it is characterized by a weak response to a change in environmental conditions. Cv. ‘Altayskaya yubileynaya’ produces the highest yield (6.16 t/ha) due to its plasticity (bi = 0.91), but has low stability (Si2 = 102.5), while cv. ‘Shershnevskaya’ secures rather high productivity (5.23 tons per hectare) due to high stability (Si2 = 32.7) and medium responsiveness to changes in environmental conditions (bi = 0.75).

The Michurinsk Department of the Vavilov Society of Geneticists and Breeding Scientists (VOGiS) was formed in 1966 after the constituent congress of VOGiS and nowadays includes 54 members. The scientists are engaged in 4 scientific institutions affiliated with FASO of Russia. The paper presents investigations of the individual genetics of leading fruit crops (pear, cherry, apple), identified genes, regularities of inheriting resistance to low temperatures, the most harmful diseases and several characters responsible for fruit quality. Some genes were identified for the first time. These are genes regulating Coccomyces hiemalis Higg. resistance (A), retarded growth habit in cherry (O2), astringency (Ta) and juiciness (Su) of fruit in pear. On the base of hybridological analysis and DNA marking, genotypes were identified. These genotypes carry target alleles of the following genes: columnar growth habit (Co) in apple, dwarf trait (PcDw) in pear, retardant growth (O2) in cherry. It was found that the markers C18470-25831, Mdo.chr 10.12, Co04R12 do not always show robust results for screening of young apple seedlings with columnar growth habit (Co) because they are identified as non-columnar forms. The primer pairs of 29f1 и jwi1r are the most robust ones for identification of columnar genotypes. These primers amplify specific PCR product of 586 bp (5’CR). On the basis of molecular-genetic analysis of apple initial forms and hybrid seedlings, there were identified targeted alleles of monogenic scab resistance genes including dominant homozygous genotype (Rvi6Rvi6) and also alleles of genes involved in the control of the biosynthesis of ethylene (Md-ACS1 and Md-ACO1) and expansin (Md-Exp7) controlling fruit long shelf life and pulp firmness.

Presented technology for nutrient food dyes model samples of cooked meat products with the introduction of extracts from currants, grapes and cherries; investigated the biochemical composition of the model samples, determined the content of trace elements and vitamins, and presents the results of the organoleptic analysis of the meat products.