HortResearch announces the release for grower trial of ‘Sansa’, an early, fresh-market apple, maturing up to 2 weeks before ‘Gala’.

Origin

‘Sansa’ originated from a cross between ‘Gala’ and ‘Akane’ made in 1969 by the late Dr Don McKenzie at the then DSIR Fruit Research Division's (now HortResearch) station at Havelock North. Don McKenzie was asked to make the cross by Dr Yoshio Yoshida of the Morioka Research Station at Iwate, Japan. ‘Akane’ pollen was sent to Havelock North and used to pollinate flowers of ‘Gala’ trees which were then unavailable in Japan. The cross was made and seed was sent back to Japan the following summer. Subsequently, a selection was made at Morioka in 1981 and tested as Morioka No 42. It was released in 1988 in Japan as ‘Sansa’. ‘Sansa’ could not be released earlier in New Zealand because of difficulties relating to Plant Variety Rights.

Introduction to New Zealand

A number of breeding selections were introduced from the Morioka Research Station by DSIR during the early 1980s under ‘on-station’ only trial agreements. ‘Sansa’ as Morioka No. 42 was introduced into New Zealand in 1981 and released from quarantine in 1983. Trials on the HortResearch orchards at Havelock North, Appleby and Clyde have shown the potential of the cultivar as an early fresh-market apple. ‘Sansa’ has now been made available for FIPIA grower trial. Budwood is limited but over 1000 buds were taken in 1995 and 8500 buds this season.

Description

‘Sansa’ is a small to medium sized apple (approx. 170g) tending to size up late in its development. Shape is conical-round, similar to ‘Gala’. ‘Sansa’ has a bright-red stripe on blush on a yellow-green background. The background colour pales just before harvest giving the red overcolour its bright appearance. Some russet occurs around the stem region.

Flesh colour is green-white. Fresh fruit has firm but tender flesh which is juicy and particularly sweet for the season. The overall eating quality is very good. Tree-ripened fruit are of superb quality in early February. In trials at HortResearch, ‘Sansa’ has stored well for 3 weeks at 0°C but softens quickly after this. ‘Sansa’ has excellent potential as a fresh market apple available 2 weeks before ‘Gala’.

Trees are of medium vigour. Cropping has tended to be light on young trees, which may be a result of late flowering. In 1993 and 1994, full bloom occurred on 26/10 and 25/10 respectively. However, in 1995, 5% bloom occurred on 12/10 and full bloom on 17/10. Thus flowering has come forward as the tree aged and this season resulted in good set and crop load.

Results from U.S.A.

‘Sansa’ was introduced into the United States in 1986 and obtained a U.S. plant patent in 1989. It has been extensively trialled in several locations in the United States both on the East and West coasts and rated as one of the top 10 new varieties in 1993. Some testers have rated the quality as good as ‘Gala’. In the U.S.A., it has matured 5 - 15 days before ‘Gala’.

‘Sansa’ has been noted in the United States as resistant to several diseases, including apple black spot. Although no difficulties have been experienced with black spot on ‘Sansa’, this cultivar has not been tested under spray free conditions. If found to be disease resistant, ‘Sansa’ will have excellent potential for nil and low spray programmes. ‘Sansa’ does not have the V_f gene possessed by other modern disease resistance cultivars (e.g. ‘Prima’, ‘Liberty’). Parentage is complex (see Fig. 1 below) and thus putative resistance must be polygenic but is likely to be derived via ‘Akane’ from ‘Worcester Pearmain’.

Availability.

‘Sansa’ is available for trial through FIPIA New Zealand Ltd. ‘Sansa’ has New Zealand Plant Variety Rights.