*3.7. Total Soluble Solids, Titratable Acidity, Maturity Index, and pH*

After determining the texture, the same 30 fruits from the second sub batch were divided into three groups of 10 fruits. The juice from these 10 fruits was extracted with an electrical extractor (ZN350C70, Tefal Elea, China) for one minute. Total soluble solids (TSS, in ◦Brix) were determined using a digital refractometer (PR-101, Atago, Tokyo, Japan) and expressed as the percentage of soluble solids in juice (%). Then, pH was also measured using a pH meter (3310 Jenway). Titratable acidity (TA, in g citric acid 100 g−<sup>1</sup> of fresh weight) was determined by diluting 10 mL of fruit juice with 10 mL of distilled water and titrating with 0.1 mol L−<sup>1</sup> sodium hydroxide (NaHO) until reaching pH 8.2 using a Schott Easy Titroline automatic titrator. The maturity index was expressed as the ratio of TSS and TA.

#### *3.8. Statistical Analysis*

Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS V.25 software (SPSS-IBM, Corp., Armonk, New York, NY, USA). Statistical differences between the two cultivars were evaluated by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), followed by Tukey's post-hoc multiple range test (*p* < 0.05). In addition, Pearson's rank correlation was performed for the relationship between the cracking index and the other quality parameters (three average values for each cultivar). Principal component analysis (PCA) was also performed. PCA is mostly used as a tool in exploratory data analysis and for making predictive models. PCA was performed by eigenvalue decomposition of the data correlation (Corr-PCA) matrix after normalizing the data matrix for each attribute.

#### **4. Conclusions**

Nowadays, the big challenge of producers is to guarantee high production without affecting the quality of the fruit. For this, the selection of the best cultivars for each region is crucial.

In the present work, cv. Lapins cherries presented better quality attributes than the cv. Early Bigi cherries, having potentially greater commercial value and is an ideal cultivar for the Resende region. Lapins cherries simultaneously presented a higher cracking index, which was related to the bigger size, higher fruit firmness, more mature fruits, and less wax content. However, it is necessary to take into account that the cracking index is higher in detached fruits compared to cracking in fruits on the trees. Even so, Lapins cherries presented higher susceptibility for cracking in the laboratory assays, indicating a possible higher cracking incidence in the orchard if intensive rains occur near or during the harvest.

Although it has not shown itself as an ideal cultivar in terms of quality parameters, the cv. Early Bigi is still very valuable to producers in the Resende region due to its early ripening. The differences in terms of productivity and harvest time of these two cultivars are also important to the producers, especially due to the climate change and irregular rainfall that can affect one cultivar more than the other, according to its maturity stage.

**Author Contributions:** All authors contributed in a significant way to the activities of the paper. S.P., V.S., A.P.S., and B.G. had a major role in the design of the experiment and the coordination of the activities. S.P. and V.S. did the practical work in the field and in the laboratory. S.P. did the literature research and drafted the manuscript including the tables and figures; and E.B., A.P.S., and B.G. helped write the final manuscript. F.G. followed and helped in the field work and C.R. in methodology and data analysis. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by "Fundo Europeu Agrícola de Desenvolvimento Rural (FEADER)" and by "Estado Português" in the context of "Ação 1.1 «Grupos Operacionais»", integrated in "Medida 1. «Inovação» do

PDR 2020—Programa de Desenvolvimento Rural do Continente"—Grupo Operacional para a valorização da produção da Cereja de Resende e posicionamento da subfileira nos mercados (iniciativa no. 362). The authors also acknowledge the support of National Funds by the FCT—Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under the project UIDB/04033/2020.

**Acknowledgments:** The authors are grateful to José de Almeida from Cermouros for providing access to his orchard as well as to Sílvia Afonso and Ivo Oliveira for their support in the field work.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
