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The apple — for now labeled as MN447 — dates back to the 1920s.
“It’s an old-timer that we inherited, and was selected and used for breeding only,” said David Bedford, a University of Minnesota apple breeder. “We never had any intention of releasing it.”
But the same group that brought consumers the Honeycrisp and the Haralson figured customers are becoming more adventurous, so why not?
MN447 is blocky in shape and small in size. Its taste has been compared to Hawaiian Punch and can really stun some.
“It’s not a very pretty apple,” Jim Luby, the university’s top apple expert said. “But the unusual thing about it is its flavor — like pineapple or sugar cane. By the time it’s ripe, it’s a really strong flavor. ... Some people really hate it, some people really like it.
“Those that don’t like it find it pretty repulsive.”
Variety MN447 is slated for commercial release in 2008. But the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum has already taken suggestions for names, including: Sweet Mamma, Snowcrisp, Tootsarella and Crunchalicious.
Lynn Storey, of Bloomington, and family members submitted names, including Nordic Sweetie.
“Being a family of Norwegians, we thought ’Nordic’ was a pretty darned good idea,” Storey said.
The naming contest runs through October. Then the breeders will pick a winner, who will receive bragging rights and a bag of apples.
MN447 won’t be released until next year — and it will take years for orchards and nurseries to grow fruit-bearing trees. So, consumers might have to wait a decade for their first bite.
“This is very early in the game,” Bedford warned. “I’d say next year there’s going to be probably 100 trees in the whole country.”
Since 1878, the University of Minnesota has been breeding apple trees that tolerate the cold. Breeders have introduced 25 varieties, including the Honeycrisp, a superstar introduced in 1991.
“Most of the (university’s) varieties are pretty much regional apples,” Luby said. But the Honeycrisp is “planted all across the United States, in Canada and Europe.”
To submit a suggestion: http://www.arboretum.umn.edu/whtsnw/pdf/applenamingentryform.pdf
