The first batch of the Black Pearl (黑珍珠) strain of wax apples -- which are originally from the Malay peninsula but have been genetically improved in Taiwan -- were airlifted yesterday to Canada as part of the fruit's experimental entry into the North American market.
Black Pearl wax apples, which are grown mainly in Taiwan's southernmost county of Pingtung, get their name from their shiny dark-red color. They also taste sweeter than ordinary wax apples, are larger in size and have an improved texture -- which makes the strain a "pearl among fruits," according to those who named it.
Black Pearl wax apples command much higher prices than other strains -- around NT$200 (US$5.7) per kilogram compared to just NT$30 per kilogram for ordinary wax apples.
The Canada-bound wax apples, packed into small paper cartons that contain five or six fruits each, mark the first time that this kind of fruit has been exported to Canada.
Similar shipments are expected to be airlifted to Singapore shortly as part of an overseas sales campaign recently launched by the Taiwan Wax Apple Sales Strategic Alliance (台灣蓮霧產業聯盟) under technical guidance from the Kaohsiung District Agricultural Improvement Station (KDAIS, 高雄區農業改良場).
According to Lee Hsien-teh from the KDAIS, Taiwan's wax apples are priced high because of their good quality -- they are also a labor-intensive variety and require a slow growth rate and organic fertilizer to ensure good taste and texture
Of the roughly 8,300 hectares of wax apple orchards nationwide, about 7,000 hectares are in Pingtung County.
In Liukuei, Kaohsiung County, an even newer species of wax apple, the "black diamond" has been developed. However, the "black diamond," which is even larger than the "black pearl," is being produced in very low numbers, insufficient for even domestic consumption.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the