Researchers in the US have introduced a new disease-free, high-yield table grape that ripens early.
The new Delicious muscadine variety was cross-bred by experts at the University of Florida and has an “exceptional taste and texture” with an edible black skin, making it well-suited for fresh consumption.
Delicious, which has a working name of Vitis rotundifolia Michx, originated from a cross between AA10-40, a self-fertile, bronze-fruited selection with medium-sized berries, and CD8-81, a black-fruited, self-fertile selection with larger berries, according to Dr Dennis J Gray, who led the research study published in the February 2009 issue of HortScience.
Fruit ripening dates vary seasonally, but tend to occur in early August at Apopka, Florida, two to three weeks earlier than other muscadine cultivars evaluated.
The Delicious seedlings were planted in 1993 and bear fruit which is oval-shaped and reddish, turning dark purple to black when ripe.
The black colour originates from the Southland variety and the self-fertile trait came from the Carlos, Southland, and/or Welder varieties.
Eaten early, the ripe fruit has a “semi-crunchy” flesh, but fruit allowed to ripen further tends to have a softer flesh and become noticeably juicier. The berries have a dry stem scar and harvest readily with mechanical shaking. The grape also has potential for wine production.
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