2023 Volume 2023 Issue 16 Pages 29-42
‘Kinshu’ is a mid-season maturing red dessert apple (Malus pumila Mill.), resulted from a cross of ‘Sensyu’ and 4-4349 (‘Tsugaru’ × ‘Iwakami’) made in 1994. The original tree of ‘Kinshu’ was initially selected in 2006 in Apple Research Station (current: Morioka Research Station), NARO in Morioka, and was tested as selection Ringo Morioka-70 under the sixth apple selection national trial initiated in 2009. It was released as ‘Kinshu’ in 2018, then registered as No. 27428 under The Plant Variety and Seedling Act of Japan in 2019. The tree vigor is medium, and its flowering time is 2 days later than ‘Tsugaru’. ‘Kinshu’ is cross-compatible with major commercial cultivars such as ‘Fuji’, but is cross-incompatible with ‘Tsugaru’, since the S-genotype of ‘Kinshu’ is S3S7. ‘Kinshu’ is resistant to Alternaria blotch and is susceptible to scab. The fruit of ‘Kinshu’ ripens in late September to early October in Morioka. Mean fruit weight is 298 g, almost same as ‘Tsugaru’ in the national trial. The fruit has a dark red surface color at harvest time, and the flesh firmness is 13.8 lbs, no significant difference with that of ‘Tsugaru’. Soluble solids concentration averages around 14.7%, significantly higher than that of ‘Tsugaru’. Titratable acidity averages 0.34 g/100 ml, significantly higher than that of ‘Tsugaru’ and lower than that of ‘Fuji’. Fruit skin shows good coloration compared with ‘Tsugaru’. Coloration did not decline even in the relative temperate apple-growing regions of Japan. Therefore, ‘Kinshu’ is expected to be a suitable mid-season maturing cultivar with high-quality fruit for adapting to warmer climate.
