The Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute has launched a new pineapple cultivar that smells like a mango and is better adapted to rainy weather, saying it could be a new star of exported fruits.
The new cultivar, named Tainung No. 23, was developed by the institute’s Chiayi Agricultural Experiment Station after 24 years of research.
Bred from two parent pineapple cultivars — Tainung No. 19 and Tainung No. 21 — the new cultivar is better adapted to Taiwan’s rainy environment, station associate researcher Kuan Ching-shan (官青杉) told a news conference in Chiayi City on Friday.
Photo: Ting Wei-chieh, Taipei Times
Due to the nation’s hot and wet summers, many pineapple strains yield poor-quality fruit, which might contain too much moisture, have a weaker flavor or ripen too quickly, the station said, adding that this results in losses for farmers.
The effects of climate change have made the situation worse, it added.
By comparison, the Tainung No. 23 pineapple features a mango smell that would not be affected by the summer weather, with its sweetness and sourness nicely balanced, Kuan said.
Dubbed “mango pineapple” by farmers, the new cultivar’s average sweetness reaches 18.2 degrees, with a sourness of about 0.7 degrees, he said, adding that it tastes delicate and does not have apparent fibers.
According to the Agriculture and Food Agency’s fruit sweetness scale released in 2018, sugar cane for ordinary consumption (not for making sugar) usually has 20 degrees of sweetness, while a quality pineapple should have at least 13 degrees.
Weighing 1.4kg each on average, the new pineapple looks like a short cylinder, and its skin takes on an orange hue when it ripens, Kuan said.
Its plants are relatively short, to help farmers, the station said, adding that farmers should use machines to save on labor when caring for the plants.
Its fruit produced in autumn and winter can be stored longer, making it suitable for exporting, the station said.
The Japanese market has responded positively to the pineapple, station director Chen Kan-shu (陳甘澍) said, adding that farmers interested in growing it can contact the station for authorization.
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