Apple Chouka 34 bred by Nagano Prefecture (photo by Agricultural Policy Planning Department of Nagano Prefecture)
Nagano, Feb. 21 – Nagano Prefecture Agricultural Experiment Station has successfully developed a new strain of apple called “Apple Choka 34.” It’s a late-maturing variety that features pink flesh, which is sweet-and-sour and rich in taste. Also, it has a pleasant crispy texture. It’s good not only for table fruit but also for various other purposes, for example, as colorful cut fruits for salad or semi-dried products. With Apple Choka 34, the prefecture expects to create a very new demand that cannot be found with existing varieties.
Private breeders and universities have also bred the apples with red or pink flesh, but it was the first time for Nagano to do so.
Apple Choka 34 weighs about 400 grams each. Its brix content is 15, and it’s as sweet as the apples of Fuji variety, another late-ripe variety. However, its acidity is 0.8%, twice as high as Fuji. Its skin is dark red.
The flesh has a hardness of about 14 pounds or 6.35 kilograms, higher than Fuji. It has “a lot of juice and crispy texture when eaten,” according to an official of the agricultural technology section of the prefecture.
Nagano is planning to apply for the breed registration in March. The date of the sales launch of the seedlings has not been determined yet.