Is South Africa ready for the Piel de Sapo?

South African consumers could soon be faced with a new melon variety on the shelves. The Piel de Sapo melon is making an entrance on to the market, at the moment it still a niche product as South Africans prefer the more well know and trusted melons such as cantaloupe and honeydew.

Donald Millar-Watt, Research Farm Manager at seed company Starke Ayres, says there is still a lot of work to be done in the area of marketing this variety in South Africa. "People are put-off by the appearance of this melon, with its toad like skin. Once they taste it they will learn how sweet and delicious it is."

The Piel de Sapo seeds are of the SEDA cultivar and marketed under the Starke Ayres brand and in the trials the variety scored very well. The brix level was 14 with the fruit weighing 2-3.5kg. Millar-Watt explained that he variety also has high resistance to Fusarium and intermediate resistance to powdery mildew.

For more information:
Donald Millar-Watt
Starke Ayres (Pty) Ltd
South Africa
Tel: +27 (0) 21 987 2219
Email: donald@starkeayres.co.za
www.starkeayres.co.za