BREEDING AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW APPLE CULTIVAR 'JAZZ ^TM'

‘Jazz^TM’ is a new apple (Malus xdomestica) cultivar derived from crosses made in 1985 at HortResearch, Havelock North, between ‘Braeburn’ as the seed parent and ‘Royal Gala’ as the pollen parent. The fruit matures one-two weeks after ‘Royal Gala’. It is a bicolour, having 70% bright red blush with a defined fleck, on a green-yellow to lemon-yellow background. Size is medium, similar to ‘Gala’ and productivity is moderate. The outstanding feature of ‘Jazz^TM’ is its texture. Fruit are extremely firm at harvest. They soften slowly during long-term air storage and develop a very crisp, juicy texture. The flavour is rich with a moderate acid: sugar taste. Initial trials indicate that ‘Jazz^TM’ shows good adaptation to a range of climates - throughout New Zealand, Washington (USA) and France. The creation, selection and development of ‘Jazz^TM’ is an example of the multi-disciplinary approach to new cultivar development employed by HortResearch. For ‘Jazz^TM’, this included close collaboration with the commercial marketing agent, ENZAFRUIT, at an early stage of development.