Major Supermarket Begins Wide-Scale Tests to Bring Heritage Apple Varieties to Market.
Austrian retail group Spar and produce distributor Frutura have started a pilot to test whether two rare heirloom apple varieties can be grown and sold commercially, with Arche Noah experts advising.
Spar, one of Austria's biggest retail chains, has begun a pilot rollout of long-forgotten apple varieties, working with the produce distributor Frutura. According to the report, only about 10 of the roughly 2,000 types of apples grown in Austria are usually found in supermarkets.
The pilot focuses on two rare varieties. Ilzer Rosenapfel dates from about 1840 and comes from the southern state of Styria. Falchs Gulderling was identified in the 1870s in South Tirol. Experts from the environmental group Arche Noah (Noah's Ark) were brought in to identify heritage apples that suit modern large-scale cultivation.
The project will assess the apples on taste, growth performance, susceptibility to disease and shelf life. An experimental orchard in Styria now has 2,150 trees. The first fruits were picked in the week of publication for sampling. Next month they are due to go to a trial supermarket in Vienna and to regional daycare centers and schools. Markus Kaser, deputy chair of Spar Austria, said: "If we succeed, we would like to offer these special varieties throughout the region."
Frutura co-managing director Katrin Hohensinner-Häupl described her first impressions as positive. She said the ripe Gulderling was particularly large and deep red, while the Ilzer Rosenapfel was smaller and paler. On flavor, she said "they recall apples from childhood."
The article places the project within a wider international trend of reviving heirloom fruit, including small orchards and farm stands in Europe and the US. Pomologists quoted say older varieties contain more polyphenols in their skin than modern ones. Researchers at Charité, Berlin's university hospital, reported that a high polyphenol concentration in heirloom varieties can allow many people with a lifelong apple allergy to eat the fruit. The study also found that allergic people who regularly ate varieties they could tolerate had fewer hay fever symptoms.
Note: The headline says "wide-scale tests," but the page describes a pilot scheme with one experimental orchard of 2,150 trees and one trial supermarket in Vienna, so the brief calls it a pilot.
At a Glance
- Only about 10 of Austria's roughly 2,000 apple types are typically sold in supermarkets, according to the report.
- The pilot covers two varieties: Ilzer Rosenapfel (from about 1840) and Falchs Gulderling (identified in the 1870s).
- An experimental orchard in Styria has 2,150 trees growing.
- Fruit goes to a trial supermarket in Vienna and to regional daycare centers and schools next month.
Sources
This brief was written by Brightside Report from the reporting linked above. Spot an error? Request a correction.