New Zealand apple scientists have developed a coreless apple as the ultimate in convenient fruit snacking.
Peter Beaven, chief executive, Pipfruit New Zealand (PNZ), said the obesity issue was a ticking time bomb and there is a need to push fruit into the snacking channels.
“If you look at the checkouts in the retailers, what do you see?
“What we need to do is get smarter on our breeding programmes.
“We’ve developed a coreless apple which can be eaten as a snack fruit. We’ve got the technology to do that now, we just need to work on the issue of taste to get that right.”
He said PNZ expects to see a launch of the fruit within the next couple of years and added it is also working on a range of different-coloured fruit which will have novelty appeal.
The new variety is part of a drive for innovation within New Zealand with the launch of Prevar, the top-fruit breeding joint venture between HortResearch, PNZ, nursery group AIGN and Apples & Pears New Zealand.
Beavan said: “The industry is making a big investment into developing new varieties, and Prevar will be the vehicle to develop those.
“We have around 15 potential varieties ready, and we’re just working on a commercialisation plan for those.”
He said the recent gene mapping of the apple over in New Zealand meant Prevar was able to develop new fruit far faster than previously, being able to select desired characteristics very early in fruit development.
