Inheritance of sugars and acids in berries of grape (Vitis vinifera L.)

Inheritance patterns for table grape sugars and organic acids were investigated on three cross offspring populations during two successive years. Glucose and fructose were the predominant sugars in progeny berries with only trace amounts of sucrose. Total sugar content showed additive inheritance and the broad-sense heritability ranged from 0.61 to 0.84. The means of progeny sugar content were lower than mean parent values. Inheritance of malic acid was strongly additive and the broad-sense heritability varied from 0.73 to 0.89. The means of progeny malic acid content were higher than mean parent values. Tartaric acid was mainly controlled by non-additive effect and the broad-sense heritability varied from 0.59 to 0.84. The means of progeny tartaric acid content were lower than mean parent values. Inheritance of the total acid content was strongly additive and was mainly influenced by malic acid. The broad-sense heritability of total acid varied from 0.53 to 0.90.