Differential thermal analysis reveals the sensitivity of sweet cherry flower organs to low temperatures

The frequency and severity of spring frosts increase during the budburst in many regions of the world as global warming increases. Variability in the freezing resistance of sweet cherry flower organs during the active growing period has been rarely documented, especially in regard to the sepal, pedicel, receptacle, petal, stamen, and pistil organs of flower at the deacclimation stage. The freezing resistance of flower organs of six sweet cherry cultivars was investigated at regular intervals from the first white stage through the full bloom stage using differential thermal analysis (DTA) for 2019-2020. For most of the cultivars, petal and stamen organs of flower exhibited higher freezing resistance than other flower organs. There were significant differences in frost tolerance among cultivars, and 'Van' and 'Wild Genotype' had a lower level of low temperature exotherms or critical temperatures (LT₅₀ values) in both stages, whereas 'Merton Late' was more sensitive to frost than other cultivars. Additionally, an increase in LT₅₀ values in all cultivars was observed with the progression of the budburst. The results in the present study can increase the certainty of decision-making regarding the timing and methods to increase the air temperature in orchards during spring frost events to prevent frost damage. Larger data sets are required to further validate our results, and future efforts should thus be focused on determining the critical temperatures of flower organs using different measurement techniques.