California looks to grow avocados year-round with new varieties
One type Arpaia and her colleague, Eric Focht, are recommending to growers has all these traits. It's called GEM, the great granddaughter of the Hass avocado, and is already being sold at nurseries. Arpaia didn't breed it, but she and Focht recommended that the University of California system patent and release the variety.
In taste tests conducted by Westfalia Fruit Estates, a South African company marketing GEM worldwide, the avocado variety scored better than Hass in terms of eating quality.
The second type is nicknamed "lunchbox" for its small size. The third has no name yet, but Arpaia and Focht think it holds promise. "Lunchbox, that one peels nice, but I mean [the third, nameless variety] just falls out of the skin," Focht says.
Arpaia say "lunchbox" and the nameless variety should be on the market within a year or two. That's good news for California avocado growers who want options.
"I want our avocado varieties to be in season for more than one week," Arpaia says, adding that she'd like different times of the year to be associated with certain varieties of avocados. "I want it where you can say it's July — it's time to pick this variety."
source: npr.org
