‘FRIDA’ AND ‘FREDRIK’, THE FIRST SCAB-RESISTANT APPLE CULTIVARS DEVELOPED IN SWEDEN

An apple breeding program has been in existence at Balsgård since the late 40’s, resulting in several commercially grown cultivars.
The most successful among these is ‘Aroma’, which has become the second most important cultivar in Sweden.
In 1988, pollen of the American apple selection P.R.I. 1858/102 was sent to Balsgård, and applied to emasculated ‘Aroma’ flowers.
The resulting seedlings proved to have remarkable fruit quality, and several of them were selected for observation trials at Balsgård as well as in some commercial apple orchards.
Two of these selections were named ‘Frida’ and ‘Fredrik’ in May 2003. ‘Fri’ means free in Swedish and alludes to the fact that these new cultivars have V_f-based scab resistance, which has so far held up very well in Sweden.
Both cultivars produce very aromatic fruits that are picked in late September or early October, reach peak eating quality in November-December and can be stored throughout April. ‘Frida’ produces medium-sized fruits with a bright red blush and a somewhat more acidic and refreshing taste then ‘Aroma’ itself. ‘Fredrik’ produces somewhat smaller fruits that are greenish yellow with orange-red stripes and blush, and an aromatic, somewhat spicy and nutty flavour.

XI Eucarpia Symposium on Fruit Breeding and Genetics

H. Nybom

Malus x domestica, Venturia inaequalis, apple breeding, climate adaptation, disease resistance

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2004.663.157