Major Australian produce company Nutrano says it is excited about the release of its new Lady Jane mango varieties this week.
Lady Jane is a cross of Irwin (female) and R2E2 (male), and Nutrano's Brett Jackson says the robust quality can better withstand all aspects of the supply chain giving a significantly better shelf life.
"We developed Lady Jane to offer customers a better eating experience with a superior flavour and appearance," he said. "They have a brilliant red blush with a rich sweet flavour, a smooth firm flesh with no or little fibre and a smaller seed. Lady Jane has a higher brix level of 14-17 per cent."
It has been a 25-year project in the making with the varieties, also known as RA17 and R10-8 which will be marketed under the Lady Jane brand. These varieties were developed in partnership with expert mango breeder Ken Rayner in the Northern Territory.
"After testing many different varieties and hybrids, they were cross pollinated in 1995 and field planted in 1996," Mr Jackson said. "The trees bore its first fruit in 2001. The first commercial planting of this variety was planted on our farm in Katherine NT in 2013."
The first semi-commercial production will be in market this year, but due to limited quantities this year Lady Jane will only be available in selected Woolworths stores in Sydney.
"It is a key mango market. We are targeting premium shoppers and keen mango enthusiasts within the local market," he said. "There is certainly export potential with this variety as it offers a significantly better shelf life and is more robust so can handle long journeys."
Nutrano has been growing mangoes at its Katherine Farm for over 10 years, and Mr Jackson says the Sweet Cheeks branded mangoes are well recognised in Australia as premium fruit that is consistently good quality and a superior eating experience for consumers.
"We are seeing strong growth in the mango category with more Australian households trying and buying mangoes. The consumers are more familiar with KP/ Bowen variety, however, with the market becoming flooded with Kensington Pride/Bowen mangoes it was important for us to diversify and create something new for consumers. We have been growing mangoes for over 10 years at our Katherine Farm in Northern Territory and we are excited at the prospects of growing Lady Jane mangoes. We currently have 10,000 Lady Jane trees in the ground which has produced a fantastic crop for us this year."
Nutrano says the new varieties are a higher yielding tree which harvests earlier than Kensington Pride and is less prone to disease.
"The sap doesn't burn your skin so you can just wash it off and it won’t leave a mark. From a production perspective this could reduce the cost of harvesting, for chemicals to neutralise the saps in the tree. We also found that they adapt better to the different weather conditions here in the Northern Territory with very good flowering and fruit set."
Nutrano hold the plant breeders right globally and are looking to expand the mango grower programme here in Australia to meet the future demand from consumers. The uptake for this variety with overseas growers has been well received with plantings in Spain and South Africa.
Any growers interested in planting these varieties or would like to find out more information please email: info@nutrano.com.au
For more information
Brett Jackson
Nutrano
Phone: +61 3 9428 1748
www.nutrano.com.au