Apple Varieties of the Future from WSU's Apple Breeding Program

Speaker: Dr. Kate Evans, Assoc. Professor and Apple Breeder, Washington State University
Affiliation: WSU Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center, Wenatchee, WA 98801-1230
Synopsis: Dr. Kate Evans emphasizes the fact that for any new cultivar to be successful in the industry, it needs to provide consistently good quality at harvest, it should be able to be handled in a commercial packinghouse and it needs the ability to be long-term stored and come out of storage with good eating quality. Other important considerations that she noted include how amenable it is to different training systems, how easy it is to thin, the specific harvest window, whether it can be one-time harvested (or not) and what the commercial packout is. Dr. Evans described the use of precision breeding techniques including four steps: 1. DNA-informed choice of parents; 2. DNA-informed selection of seedlings; 3. Extension evaluation of fruit; and 4. Extensive evaluation of selections. Dr. Evans noted that now there are DNA tools to identify the following traits (fruit skin color, fruit acidity, fruit sugar, harvest date, fruit texture, fruit ethylene production, bitter pit susceptibility, fire blight susceptibility, scab susceptibility, and mildew susceptibility). The use of these DNA tools can help to ensure that the correct parents are chosen for crossing and that seedlings lacking the desired traits can be discarded before they go to the field. This allows for the reallocation of resources to other parts of the breeding program to improve overall efficiency. She describes briefly the fruit evaluation in the lab and selection evaluation at grower sites and consumer testing. Dr. Evans shares some details about the newest selection, WA 38, that will be marketed as Cosmic Crisp TM brand. She describes consumer testing comparing WA 38 very favorably with Honeycrisp. Two related videos include: Fruit Testing at the WSU Apple Breeding Program ( • Fruit Testing at the W... ) and Cosmic CrispTM WA 38 Field Days ( • Fruit Testing at the W... .

[@johnparkerthegimpygardener]

The sad thing is on your list the one and most important thing was taste . When i was a kid many years ago apples were good ! Have not had a good store apple !! Picked before ripe and are like eating cardboard ! Store apples are only good for the market where thay are cooked and mashed and cover flavors are added to make it taste like something ! That is why i grow my own apples and fruits ! Don' t want something That has the list of quality's you are so set on looking for ! So sad young people do not know what good fruit and vegetables are !!