TopFruit is introducing three black-skinned plums with excellent eating quality and early harvest windows. Characterised by their black skin and red flesh, they have been carefully selected and developed to thrive in the Southern African climate.
TopFruit introduces new fruit varieties into Southern Africa from breeders all over the world since 1983. Its focus is to discover and unlock the potential of these varieties for Southern African producers, FreshPlaza informs. This is achieved through cultivar development, a strong program of intellectual property management, brand development, and innovative marketing initiatives.
TopFruit manages some of the well-known stone fruit breeding programs from around the world. One of these is BQ Genetics from California (USA), better known as the Bradford varieties, managed in South Africa by TopFruit since 2007.
The three varieties, that can be planted by any South African producer from the Bradford programs, are Blackred I, Blackred IV, and the newly introduced Blackred XVI (being planted in the winter of 2024 in test sites in South Africa).
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Blackred I
With a harvesting period starting from week 47/48 in the Robertson area, this plum’s production capacity is 30t/ha to 35t/ha, with good pack-outs. This variety can be seen as an alternative to African Rose. It has excellent eating quality, with a sweet taste and a touch of acidity in the skin, providing a well-balanced flavour profile. The total soluble solids (sugar) content is high for an early ripening variety, which is a good indicator that the variety can possibly handle lower temperatures for special market requirements. This variety can be stored for at least 35 days at -0,5°C and is suitable for sea freight.
Blackred IV
This red-fleshed plum has good eating quality, with some skin tartness, and can be seen as an alternative to Sapphire. The harvesting period starts from week 49/50 in the Robertson area. This variety can be stored for at least 35 days at -0,5˚C and is suitable for sea freight. Because of these early harvest windows, producers can capitalize on their early availability during periods of limited supply.
Blackred XVI (Midnight Sensation)
Standing out among the new introductions, Blackred XVI (Midnight Sensation) has a black skin and red flesh. This low/medium chill variety has an impressive taste for an early season variety harvest in week 49/50
It is highly productive, yielding an impressive 45-50 T/ha (as seen in California). Blackred XVI maintains firmness and crunchiness while hanging on the tree, ensuring a long picking window (+- five weeks picking window) with Brix levels between 20-25 with remarkable storage ability, over +49 days at -0.5°C with no internal disorders, ideal for long-distance shipping. The first commercial blocks were planted in Hanford, California, in 2022.
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