Effects of pollination of different male plants on fruit quality of Actinidia chinensis ‘Donghong’

<bold>Objective</bold> ‘Donghong’ kiwifruit is a high value-added variety for rural revitalization in Jiangxi Province.Its unique flavor and excellent fruit quality make it highly popular among both consumers and growers.High-quality male plants can enhance the local adaptability and fruit quality of ‘Donghong’ kiwifruit.Researching the effects of different pollination varieties on the fruit quality of ‘Donghong’ kiwifruit can screen compatible male pollinizers，thus providing theoretical guidance for its production. <bold>Method</bold> Pollen from <italic>Actinidia chinensis</italic> male pollinizers ‘Moshan 1’ and ‘Shanwei 3’，and <italic>Actinidia deliciosa</italic> male pollinizers ‘Meixiong’ and ‘G2’ cultivated in Fengxin County，Jiangxi Province，was used to pollinate ‘Donghong’ kiwifruit flowers，with open pollination serving as the control.For each pollination treatment，five ‘Donghong’ kiwifruit female plants were selected.Branches of similar orientation，growth vigor，and thickness were chosen，and 80 unopened flowers per branch were bagged.During full bloom，manual flower-to-flower pollination was performed on ‘Donghong’ pistillate flowers using the four different male pollens.Immediately after pollination，flowers were covered with paper bags and labels were made.For each pollination treatment，20 flowers were used per plant，with five biological replicates.External fruit quality parameters were measured immediately after sampling，and internal quality parameters were assessed after fruit softening.Finally，a comprehensive evaluation of the pollinizer varieties was performed using principal component analysis. <bold>Result</bold> After pollination by different male plants，the fruit traits of single fruit weight，dry matter，titratable acid，and soluble sugar all showed significant xenia effects，while the fruit shape index and soluble solid content did not exhibit xenia.Compared with open pollination，pollination using either <italic>A. deliciosa</italic> or <italic>A. chinensis</italic> male pollinizers significantly increased the fruit weight，transverse diameter，longitudinal diameter，lateral diameter，dry matter content，and titratable acidity content of ‘Donghong’ kiwifruit.Conversely，it significantly decreased the carotenoid，total flavonoid，and total phenolic content.No significant differences were observed in fruit shape index or soluble solids content.Pollination with different <italic>A. chinensis</italic> males resulted in an average increase of 15.28% in fruit soluble sugar content，whereas pollination with <italic>A. deliciosa</italic> males showed no significant difference.Pollination with different <italic>A. deliciosa</italic> males led to an average decrease of 16.35% in fruit ascorbic acid content，while pollination with <italic>A. chinensis</italic> males showed no significant difference.Pollination with different males significantly influenced fruit pigment content.Pollination with the <italic>A. deliciosa</italic> male ‘Meixiong’ increased chlorophyll a content by 160%.Pollination with the <italic>A. chinensis</italic> male ‘Moshan 1’ increased chlorophyll b content by 54.55%.Principal Component Analysis revealed that all pollination treatments achieved higher comprehensive ranking scores than open pollination.Among them，the <italic>A. chinensis</italic> male ‘Shanwei 3’ ranked first overall，demonstrating the optimal pollination effect. <bold>Conclusion</bold> Based on the above findings，‘Shanwei 3’ can be considered a suitable pollinizer for ‘Donghong’ kiwifruit.