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Reinette
Russet
Shahrokh Khanizadeh1,
François Laurens2, Yves Lespinasse2,
Yvon Groleau1, Johanne Cousineau1, Odile Carisse1 and
Jennifer DeEll3
- 1 Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada,
Horticultural Research and Development Center, 430 Boul. Gouin, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu,
Quebec, Canada J3B 3E6
- 2 INRA - C.R. d'Angers, Unité
d'Amélioration des Espèces Fruitières et Ornementales, 42 rue Georges Morel, B.P. 57 -
49071 Beaucouzé Cedex - France
- 3 Ontario Ministry of Agriculture,
Food and Rural Affairs, 4890 Victoria Ave N, Box 8000, Vineland Station, ON, Canada L0R
2E0
- ‘Reinette Russet’ is being released as
a replacement for ‘Golden Russet’, which is presently being grown in Eastern
Canada for the production of apple cider and specialty markets. This new cultivar produces
larger fruit than ‘Golden Russet’, is hardier and it is partially resistant to
apple scab (Venturia inaequalis (Cke) Wint.). The fruit has a pleasant flavor and
it is very sweet, which should give it a market as a specialty item.
- Availability
- Origin:
- 'Reinette Russet', tested as X4362, is a mutation
of ‘Reine des Reinettes'. It was first selected at the Fruit and Ornamental Plant
Breeding Unit (FOPBU) of the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) located
in Angers (France) and then sent to Quebec for further
evaluation. ‘Reinette
Russet’ is being released by the Quebec apple breeding program (QAPB) located at the
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) station in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu
(Quebec). The
Quebec apple breeding program has been active at the Frelighsburg sub-station of
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) since 1970. The program was originally started by
Dr. Lloyd Spangelo at the Ottawa Research Station. The genetic material was transferred to
Frelighsburg in 1970 as part of a consolidation of programs by the Government of Canada.
The present goals of the breeding program are the development of hardy and disease
resistant cultivars suitable for Eastern Canada (Khanizadeh et al., 2000a) and the
development of efficient and hardy rootstocks (Khanizadeh et al., 2000b).
- Tree characteristics: ‘Reinette Russet’ trees are weak to moderately
vigorous with an upright-spreading shape when grafted on the rootstock M.26. The bearing
habit is type II, which means that the fruit are borne on 2 to 4 year old shoots
(Lespinasse, 1977). ‘Reinette Russet’
 trees are hardy at our agricultural
sub-station in Frelighsburg, Quebec (latitude 45.0465), which has an average winter
minimum temperature of –25 ºC. They are resistant to apple scab at our site in
Frelighsburg, while there has been some evidence of infection in INRA experimental
orchards and for this reason this cultivar is considered only partially resistant at that
site. No signs of powdery mildew (Podosphaera leucotricha
(Ell. & Ev.) Salm.)
or fireblight (Erwinia amylovora (Butt.) Winslow et al.) infection were observed in
Frelighsburg during the course of evaluation. The leaves are medium-small to medium
size and elliptic with serrate to double serrate margins. The underside of the leaves is
very hairy, the apex is acuminate to cuspidate and the base is oblique. The average leaf
length to width ratio is 1.6 and the petioles are hairy, 1.7 to 2.9 cm long with long and
thin stipules when young. The surface of the leaves is medium green and weakly
glossy.
- Flower characteristics:
- Flowering starts at the same time as
‘McIntosh’ and 3 days after ‘Golden Russet’ in
Frelighsburg. Unopened
flowers are dark pink (60A; Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart
(RHS), 1995) in full
balloon stage and the flowers are single. The ovate to oblong petals are touching and are
mainly white with dark pink veining (RHS 61B) on the surface. The underside of the petals
is similar to the surface except that the veining varies from RHS 61A to 61B. The pedicels
are green and red.
- Fruit characteristics:
 'Reinette
Russet' fruit mature in
early to mid-October in Frelighsburg, about 1 to 2 weeks before 'Golden
Russet', 1 week
after 'Cortland' and at least 2 weeks after 'McIntosh'. The fruit vary in size from
medium-small to medium-large (axial diameter 52 to 62 mm, transverse diameter 63 to 76
mm). The fruit weight ranges from 117 to 204 g with an overall average of 151 g. The shape
can be round-conic, flat-round-conic or oblate, and the average length to width ratio is
0.81. The outline of the fruit is mainly regular although it can be slightly angular in
some samples. The skin is average in thickness and very rough because it is covered by
fine to medium russet. The color is mainly brownish-yellow (RHS 163B) with faded to medium
red (RHS 179A) stripes on the sunny side. There is an average number of large and swollen
lenticels that can be russeted and the bloom is scant. The stem is short, pubescent,
olive-green to reddish-brown and is average in diameter. The cavity is acuminate to acute,
russeted, with a medium depth and width. The basin is average depth to slightly
deep,
medium width to wide and the slightly downy surface is smooth to a bit
wavy.  The medium size to large calyx is persistent with erect lobes, open, and the
calyx tube is funnel-shaped; the stamens are in median position. The closed to partly open
core is medium size and is located in median position with prominent clasping core
lines.
The carpels are ovate and may be cracked, but there is no tufting
present. The distal end
of the carpels is emarginate and the cells are symmetrical and axile. The seeds are large,
flattened on one side, not tufted and have an acute to obtuse
tip. The flesh is greenish-white, juicy, breaking, firm (8.1 kg as measured by a EPT-1 pressure tester made
by Lake City Technical Products Inc.) and browns quickly after
cutting. The flesh is high
in soluble solids (14.9%) and acidity (1.0% malic acid). The flavor is very sweet and
good. The fruit have a tendency to develop water core especially after
storage. After 4.5
months in a regular cold room the flesh is still fairly firm (6.7 kg), the acidity is
average (0.53%) and the soluble solids are still high (16.1%). - Post Harvest, storage: The juice produced
from stored apples is golden honey yellow. Storage in CA is not recommended since a large
percentage of the fruits suffer from senescence during extended storage.
- Other characteristics:
- Ciders produced from 'Reinette Russet' and
'McIntosh' apples were evaluated by a panel of expert judges from the "Wine Judges
Commission of Ontario". The single variety ciders were produced from juice that had
been extracted from apples at harvest and frozen for 8 months. 'Reinette Russet' apples
produced a dark yellow cider with rich, baked apple, clove and cinnamon aromas. The cider
had complex apple flavors with a pleasant tannin level but a low acid level which resulted
in a short finish. The high sugar content of the fruit may have been responsible for the
short finish. 'Reinette Russet' apples are recommended for use in the production of cider
and fruit wine due to the complexity of the flavors. They are not recommended for the
production of sparkling cider. In contrast, cider produced from 'McIntosh' apples was pale
green with cardamon, ginger, candy and caramel aromas. It had simple, clean and sweet
apple flavors and light tannin levels. The acid balance was slightly better than for
'Reinette Russet' and it had a long finish. The sugar level was high almost to the point
of unacceptability. 'McIntosh' apples are recommended for the production of sparking apple
cider and the addition of a bitter wine might help round out flavors and balance the sugar
level. Overall, both types of cider were considered acceptable although judges preferring
a complex cider flavor favored 'Reinette Russet' while those preferring a simple cider
flavor preferred 'McIntosh'.
- Adaptation
& availability: A Trademark is
pending for 'Reinette Russet'. Limited quantities of nonindexed budwood are available for
research purposes (universities and research stations) from S.K. (North America) or from
F.L. (Europe) with a written request. Trees and/or budwood material may be obtained from
Brandt's Fruit Trees Inc. in the USA and Canada. Nurseries may inquire about
"non-exclusive sub-licences" directly to:
- Lynnell Brandt
- Brandt's
Fruit Trees, Inc.
P.O. Box 10 Parker,
- WA 98939 (509) 877-3193
- Fax (509) 877-2737
- email: lynnell@ewbrandt.com
To order please contact
Pépinière Rochon inc.
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