Pro Citrus Network (PCN) has announced the debut of MandaRosa, a new brand of proprietary variety red-fleshed mandarins, exclusively offered by PCN.
MandaRosa mandarins are a natural cultivar of a Tarocco Blood Orange and Clementine, also known as the Mandared variety, and are officially the world’s first patented pigmented, seedless mandarin.
Originally created in Italy, the Mandared variety was first propagated in the US through a collaboration between the Citrus Breeding Institute in Sicily and private citrus breeders in California, who later approached PCN to market the variety.
“This is a beautiful, one-of-a-kind mandarin variety,' said Kim Flores, vice-president of business development and marketing for PCN. 'We are super excited to welcome MandaRosa to our specialty citrus family.
“Specialty citrus varieties are an important part of our commodity portfolio so it’s a natural fit for us, especially as the mandarin category evolves and varieties with superior flavor profiles become increasingly important.”
The flavour and internal colors of this variety vary and change as the fruit matures, very much like blood oranges, with some fruit having red/purple pigment and others displaying a more red-orange colour.
This pigmentation is caused by what PCN calls 'the most powerful antioxidants in nature', Anthocyanins (also found in blackberries, blueberries, etc.), which have well-documented health benefits.
“We have been working closely with the grower and have invested in developing this programme,” says Christine Raymer, PCN’s vice-president of sales. “We’ve had a lot of excitement with the team in launching this new variety and have received good, positive feedback on samples we’ve sent to some of our top customers. Shipments from the first harvest are going out this week so we are eager to see how it performs in the market, especially once consumers discover it.”
MandaRosa mandarins are available for a limited time, from February through early March.
