International sweet cherry trade represents a potential pathway for the transfer of plant pathogens between distant geographical regions. This makes it necessary to carefully assess the phytosanitary risks associated with fruit movement.
In this context, a recent study conducted in Chile investigated the germination potential of seeds from six commercial sweet cherry cultivars following exposure to environmental conditions representative of the export supply chain and the subsequent disposal of fruit in China.
The aim was to determine whether seeds contained in cherries intended for human consumption could germinate and produce new plants, potentially contributing to the spread of Prunus necrotic ringspot virus (PNRSV).
This virus, belonging to the genus Ilarvirus, is distributed worldwide and can infect several species within the Rosaceae family. It can be transmitted through pollen, seeds, and contaminated plant material. This issue is particularly relevant for Chile, one of the world's leading cherry exporters, which exported 207,504 tonnes of fresh cherries to China over the past four seasons.
The study included six widely marketed cultivars: ‘Royal Dawn’, ‘Santina’, ‘Regina’, ‘Bing’, ‘Lapins’, and ‘Sweet Heart’, evaluated during the 2022 and 2023 growing seasons. The fruit was initially stored at 0 °C for 30 days to simulate cold-chain conditions during export.
Subsequently, seeds extracted from pits and whole fruits were subjected to six experimental scenarios based on winter and spring temperature regimes in the Chinese provinces of Shanxi, Shanghai, and Shandong, which are important destinations for Chilean cherries.
The experiments reproduced post-consumption or fruit-disposal conditions by using moist sandy loam soil and keeping the material in darkness before transferring it to a greenhouse.
After 45 days under greenhouse conditions, none of the six cultivars showed any germination under any of the simulated scenarios, regardless of whether the material consisted of whole fruits or pits.
This result is consistent with the physiological characteristics of the species: sweet cherry seeds exhibit deep dormancy, which generally requires a prolonged period of cold, moist stratification to be overcome, often at around 4 °C for 2-4 months. The post-consumption conditions simulated in the experiment therefore did not appear to provide the chilling requirements necessary to initiate germination.
By contrast, the control treatment, in which the pits underwent three months of stratification at 4 °C before being transferred to the greenhouse, revealed differences among cultivars. Germination ranged from 0% in ‘Regina’ to 20.3% in ‘Sweet Heart’, with values of 17.7% for ‘Lapins’, 15.7% for ‘Bing’, 4.3% for ‘Santina’, and 1.7% for ‘Royal Dawn’.
These findings confirm the importance of stratification conditions and cultivar-related differences in determining germination responses. Viability tests also revealed a high proportion of dead or poorly viable seeds, suggesting a combined effect of temperature regime, substrate, and the presence of the endocarp, which can mechanically impede radicle emergence.
However, the researchers highlighted an important limitation: the experimental design did not allow the individual contributions of environmental and physiological factors to be separated. More importantly, the study assessed seed germination and viability without directly testing viral transmission or infectivity.
Overall, the findings indicate that, under the post-consumption conditions considered, the likelihood of seeds from fresh cherries exported from Chile producing new plants is very low. Consequently, the risk of PNRSV dissemination through this specific pathway also appears minimal.
These findings provide useful evidence for phytosanitary risk management in international trade, although further investigations into the transmissibility of the pathogen remain necessary.
Source: Gebauer, M., Rodríguez-Alvarez, Y., Muñoz, M., Vergara, C., Moore, C., & Escudero, P. (2026). Germination potential of sweet cherry seeds from commercial cultivars in Chile and implications for PNRSV dissemination risk. Chilean journal of agricultural research, 86(5), 825-831. http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/s0718-58392026000500825
Image source: Stefano Lugli
Andrea Giovannini
PhD in Agricultural, Environmental and Food Science and Technology - Arboriculture and Fruitculture, University of Bologna, IT
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