Florida growers could soon be marketing a new grapefruit hybrid in a bid to open up a static market to new consumers. Early Sweet is a three parts grapefruit, one part tangerine cross.

The fruit looks like a white grapefruit with clear bright yellow skin, but is much sweeter and has been developed by the US department of agriculture's research station at Fort Pierce, Florida.

One UK importer is already in touch with its suppliers on the new fruit. Stewart Abbey of Poupart said: 'We are excited by it as it is the first new variety for a long time.' But he is cautious too. 'What does bother me at this stage is the storage life and the fact that the taste is close to an orange gives me a few questions. We will be working with our dedicated growers probably through Seald Sweet on trials, and one of our growers – Green River Marketing of Vero Beach – already has some plantings of Early Sweet.' Billed by scientists at the station as a grapefruit for those who do not like grapefruit, Early Sweet also ripens earlier than other varieties. It is almost completely seedless, has a creamy yellow flesh and is the size and shape of a standard grapefruit. Its segments come away from the pith and peel much more easily than in other grapefruit types and the membranes of the fruit are not at all bitter. It could be released as a new variety in a year's time but it would be about eight years before significant amounts are available for export.

'We are carrying out holding tests on fruit harvested in October,' explained José Chaparro, research geneticist at the US Horticultural Research Laboratory in Fort Pierce. 'So far trials have only been carried out on fruit harvested later in the season in December.' Formal taste testing was carried out last week among different consumer groups in Florida and so far results have been encouraging.

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