Kiwi plant named ‘Soreli’
A new female tetraploid kiwifruit plant, Actinidia chinensis, named ‘Soreli’. The new variety results from a controlled cross made using tetraploid A. chinensis ‘A137’ as seed-parent and A. chinensis ‘A134.41’ as pollen donor. ‘Soreli’ bears single flowers; the fruit is large (118 g on average), oblong, circular in cross section with a reddish brown skin and a brilliant yellow flesh; core is small. Fruit taste sweet, acidity is low. Fruit are harvested earlier than both ‘Jintao’ and ‘Hayward’. Bud break occurs 6 and 8 days before ‘Jintao’ and ‘Hayward’ respectively and flowering time occurs 2 and 9 days before ‘Jintao’ and ‘Hayward’ respectively in Udine (46° 02′ N, 13° 13′ E; 88 m asl) where the comparative observations were carried out. Fruit has medium storage life (up to 3-4 months).
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Genus and species: Actinidia chinensis Planchon.
Variety denomination: ‘Soreli’.
BACKGROUND OF THE NEW VARIETYThe invention relates to a new variety of kiwifruit plant (Actinidia chinensis Planchon) named ‘Soreli.’ The new variety produces fruit for the fresh market, as well as for food products such as juice, jam, wine, spirits, fortified food, nutraceuticals and beauty products.
‘Soreli’ originated in the course of a plant breeding program initiated in May 1997 at the University of Udine, Italy by crossing 3 female by 6 male breeding lines, according to a North Carolina Model 2 cross design.
Seeds of fruit obtained from the controlled crosses were extracted in the winter of 1997-1998 and sowed in the spring of 1998. Plants were transplanted in the open field in the winter of 1998-1999. Some 108 seedlings were grown for each controlled cross.
Fruits were observed beginning in 2002, and after several years of field observations, storage and sensory evaluation, ‘Soreli’ was selected from the cross family Ac171 (A137×A134.41) with the code Ac171.76.
Field trials in different growing areas started in 2005 with grafted plants. Propagation was also successfully tested through rooted cuttings and tissue culture, and observations done on regenerated plants bearing fruit confirmed that the new material comes true to the original genotype.
The original plant is still maintained in collection at the experimental farm of University of Udine.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION‘Soreli’ is a new kiwifruit plant obtained as the result of a controlled cross made using the female A. chinensis ‘A137’ as seed-parent and the male A. chinensis ‘A134.41’ as pollen donor. ‘A137’ has unknown parentage and ‘A134.41’ originated from a selection of seeds introduced from the Guangdong province of China in 1993. Both parents (‘A137’ and ‘A134.41’) are unpatented breeding lines held at the Actinidia germplasm repository of the University of Udine, Italy.
‘Soreli’ is different from all kiwifruit varieties described up to now in the western literature and in the Chinese literature for which illustrations of the fruit and an English caption are available. It is distinguishable from the most similar variety (‘Jintao’, not patented) by the following characteristics:
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- 1. Larger, more rounded fruit.
- 2. More brilliant brown skin colour.
- 3. Slightly earlier bud break and bloom dates.
- 4. Earlier maturity date.
The illustrations include photographs of ‘Soreli’ and of ‘Jintao’, the commercial variety that most resembles ‘Soreli’ and to which ‘Soreli’ is compared in the following botanical description.
The following is a detailed botanical description of ‘Soreli,’ based on observations made during the 2009 growing season at Udine, Italy. It should be understood that the botanical and analytical characteristics described will vary somewhat depending upon cultural practices and climatic conditions, and can vary with location and season. Color descriptions are made with reference to The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart. Quantified measurements are expressed as an average of measurements taken from a number of individual plants of the new variety. The measurements of any individual plant, or any group of plants, of the new variety may vary from the stated average.
Descriptors and terminology are in accordance with the UPOV technical guidelines for kiwifruit, adopted by the European Community Plant Variety Office in its technical questionnaire (http://www.cpvo.europa.eu/). Traits of ‘Jintao’ are reported for comparison in the last column when significantly different.
Information reported below relates to observations made at the experimental farm of the University of Udine (46° 02′ N, 13° 13′ E; 88 m asl) during the years 2002-2008 (data are means±std dev).
Claims
1. We claim a new and distinct kiwifruit plant of the species A. chinensis (tetraploid) substantially as described and illustrated herein, characterized by yellow sweet flesh and brilliant brown fruit skin, large fruit size, oblong fruit shape with a slightly depressed stylar end.
Type: Grant
Filed: Jun 12, 2009
Date of Patent: Dec 7, 2010
Patent Publication Number: 20090313732
Assignee: Universita degli Studi di Udine (Udine)
Inventors: Raffaele Testolin (Udine), Guido Cipriani (Faedis)
Primary Examiner: Annette H Para
Attorney: Michelle Bos
Application Number: 12/456,176
International Classification: A01H 5/00 (20060101);
