All posts by Mike Quinsee

Bravo apple is rich in colour, does not go brown when sliced

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A new apple is set to catch the eye in markets, with its dark colour being somewhere between a deep burgundy and black.

“It is like the darkest plum you will see. It is a striking piece of fruit,” Batlow Cooperative general manager John Power said.

“It is a stunning-looking piece of fruit.”

Members of the cooperative in southern New South Wales have grown the apple after it was developed by scientists in Western Australia over several years.

They are the same researchers who came up with the Pink Lady.

Southern NSW is the only place where the variety is being grown on the eastern seaboard, to be sold into top-end outlets.

Mr Power described the apple’s flavour as “very, very sweet, but balanced with tart”.

“Another positive is when you cut it up and use a nice sharp knife when you put it in the kid’s lunchbox, it won’t brown,” Mr Power said.

“It has enough acid in it, so it will stay white and won’t brown.”

Mr Brown described it as the “apple of the future”, which led the cooperative to be involved with the development of the fruit.

Bravo set to take on Pink Lady in popularity stakes

The marketing of the apple will be largely to top-end stores, because Mr Power believes it has advantages most other apples do not enjoy.

“We believe it will one day be a contender to the Pink Lady as the most favoured apple in the country,” he said.

Mr Power said the colour, “nice round shape” and the exceptional taste all lend to the apple quickly getting a share of the market.

From a growers’ point of view, Mr Power said it was easier to cultivate.

One of the drawbacks in growing other apples is often one tree has to be picked several times because the apples colour at various times.

However, this is not the case with the Bravo, which Mr Power said coloured consistently, making for more efficient harvesting.

And he said it stored well.

“We have had it in a normal cool room for months. Brought it out for normal testing,” Mr Power said.

“It is amazing. It hasn’t gone wrinkly. It is exactly the same as when we put it in the cool store.”

While Mr Power believes the Bravo will one day rival the popular Pink Lady, he is not advising growers to start pulling Pink Ladies and replacing them with Bravos.

There are other varieties he believes orchardists should consider moving away from to Bravos.

These include Bonza, Braeburn and Jonathans.

“If they want to develop their orchards and be there for the long term, this (Bravo) is an apple that will be in demand,” Mr Power said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-03/bravo-apple-taste-batlow/7473452