Delicious "Kettleman" Apricots to Debut
Soon
By Marcia
Wood July 15, 2005
Flavorful new apricots known as "Kettleman" may soon begin showing up
in supermarket produce sections. This juicy, sweet-tart fruit is the newest
addition to the series of delectable stone fruits from expert tree fruit
breeders with the Agricultural Research Service's (ARS)
San
Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center in Parlier, Calif., about 200
miles north of Los Angeles.
What makes Kettleman apricots so special is their attractive
deep-orange skin, pleasing taste, smooth texture and alluring aroma. Also, they
ripen early: Kettleman is ready to harvest from about May 15 through May 25,
which is good news indeed for apricot fans who wait all winter for the first
fruits of spring.
In 1992, ARS research geneticist
Craig
A. Ledbetter at Parlier selected Kettleman--then known only by its breeding
number, 883001--as a front-runner among other promising apricot seedlings. He
evaluated more than 1,000 Kettleman trees and their fruit before deciding to
make this new variety available to breeders, researchers and fruit growers.
Ledbetter named the fruit for the small city of Kettleman, Calif.,
near which test trees were planted. Kettleman lies in the San Joaquin Valley,
about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The trees should thrive in
regions of the valley where other early-season apricots, like Earlicot and the
ARS-developed Castlebrite, already flourish.
California growers produce nearly all of the nation's harvest of
apricots for fresh-market sale and for processing into dried fruit, nectar,
puree, jam, jelly, pastry filling, candy and other foods and beverages.
Apricots provide iron, potassium, fiber, vitamin C and beta-carotene
which the human body converts into vitamin A.
Tree fruit researchers, breeders and nurseries can contact Ledbetter
at (559) 596-2817 or cledbetter@ars.usda.gov for grafting
materials--June buds in spring and summer or dormant scionwood in winter--that
they can use to grow their own Kettleman trees.
ARS is the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's chief scientific research organization.