New pear tastes set to excite
Wed 14 Dec 2005
Fruit lovers will soon be able to savour the exciting fresh taste of two new pears, unique to New Zealand.
Specialist new-fruit company Prevar™ today announced a treat for the taste buds with the release of Maxie™ and Crispie™, new pear cultivars that offer a refreshing combination of European flavour and Asian 'crunch' appeal.
Prevar™ is an international joint-venture company specialising in the global commercialisation of new pipfruit cultivars created by expert plant breeders at New Zealand's own HortResearch. Renowned for breeding stunning, innovative fruits such as JAZZ™ apples and Zespri GOLD™ Kiwifruit, HortResearch breeders have spent years crossing European and Asian pear varieties to produce new, highly-coloured fruit that have the crispness, keeping quality and ready-to-eat characteristics of Asian types with the flavours and aromas of European types.
Maxie™ and Crispie™ are the very first of these pears to be released to growers says Prevar™ Chief Executive, Dr Brett Ennis. "These pears are a tremendous example of the innovative fruit breeding work that HortResearch have been undertaking. The flavours and textures of Maxie™ and Crispie™ are lovely and both pears have a very attractive appearance. When eaten crisp, fruit of both cultivars are pleasantly scented, of sweet and aromatic flavour, and reminiscent of fresh ripe Bartlett pears. Crispie™ has a more delicate flavour, with lower acidity. Maxie™ has an enhanced flavour, with slightly higher acidity. These odours and flavours intensify as the fruit of both cultivars ripen and soften" he says.
Maxie™ is an appealing and eye-catching early maturing crisp-textured pear with a yellow/gold background colour, attractive red overcolour, and round shape that has a strong ripe flavour. Given its shape and colouring, this variety is likely to be recognised to be an Asian variety. Crispie™ is of medium size with a typical European shape and a light yellow, lemony background colour.
Maxie™ and Crispie™ have considerable potential as high quality, novel pears for the local fresh market. They are not suitable for export due to reduced storage and shelf life potential when compared to other exportable pear cultivars.
"Initial market research is complete and Prevar™ is confident these two new pear varieties will attract strong market interest and become very popular with consumers" says Dr Ennis. "Prevar™ is also giving consideration to the use of a new brand name for these two pears and all future new pear variety commercial releases from this unique breeding programme."
Prevar™ is currently speaking with a number of NZ fresh fruit marketing companies to partner the company in commercialising these pears in New Zealand. Growers will be required to market their fruit through a Prevar™ licensed marketer.
The pears, whose full names are Maxie™ Prem1P cv and Crispie™ Prem2P cv, will be available to New Zealand growers from the New Zealand Fruit Tree Company, the NZ-based member of Prevar™ partner company Associated International Group of Nurseries (AIGN®). "We expect strong interest from pear orchardists" says John Morton, General Manager of the NZFTC. "Mature nursery trees for 2006 are in limited supply but we are well placed to meet expected demand."
US-based AIGN® president, Lynnell Brandt, says he expects Prevar™ to commercialise the two pears in other countries in the next few years, when testing and evaluation is complete. "The global pear industry is hungry for innovative new cultivars and I'm confident that Prevar™ will continue to be a significant source of innovation" he says.
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