FMP-Resources/FruitsReaserch.md

Documentary: How 8 Fruits Were Bred To Be Perfect

Information taken from this video

Apples

• Cost 500 million
• Started in the 90s (farmers had lost >700 mil), old apple was being criticised
• 100,000 acres of red delicious trees
• Apples need to last 12 months being tasty to survive being stored
• Cosmic crisp parents are honey crisp and enterprise for crispness and storage
• Took thousands of trials and errors, planted 10,000 trees (only used 1)
• Used iodine to test when it was best to harvest
• 12000 acres of trees for cosmic crisp
• 10.5 million have gone into marketing the apple, it has its own commercial

Ruby Roman Grapes

• Largest red grape
• Japanese culture, fruits are considered a luxury and gift item, wont be sold if they have any blemishes or wrong size
• Induvial test each grapes colour, size and sugar percentage (<18%)
• "Premium" is 1 in 1000 sold, none qualified in 2019 and 2020
• Very sweet and juicy
• Harvesting starts in July
• Grown in greenhouses, each grape is monitored
• Grape thinning devices are used
• Controls the amount of light so the colour is perfect via adding/removing leaves using a propriety phone app
• Temperature over 30 degrees make it white not red
• 25000 bunches up for sale in 2020, started being sold in 2008
• Started being developed in1995 for a new large red grape

Miyazaki Mangoes

• "Egg of the sun"
• Farmed in Japan and auctioned off
• From the Irwin mango variety, turn red when ripe
• Very common, grown in other parts of the world
• Expensive due to the amount of care it receives
• Bees are rented during the flowering season for pollination - bigger mangoes
• Fruits that aren't pollenated are removed
• Only ones that are in good shape, visibly contain pits and in good position are sold
• Temperature is kept at a constant, the room is ventilated, dehumidified
• Mangoes protected from gravity
• Sun makes them red, poor colour = lower sugar content
• If a mango falls into shade it is hung up
• Light reflectors (made out of milk cartons) are attached to the mango so it receives more light, also means more balanced
• First inspection is done by human eye to make sure they are the correct shade of red
• Sorted by sugar content (above 15%) and size (more than 350 grams and 2L in size standard)
• Only 10% of mangoes become taiyo no tomago
• Most expensive sell for 500,000 yen or 2300 GBP

Pitayas

• Good for 24 hours after harvesting before loosing flavour and texture
• Type of dragon fruit
• Grows on organ pipe cacti - can only be grown in Mexico and parts of the US
• Very colourful and flavourful
• Harvests in night, early morning using a long stick
• Only available around 60 days a year
• Each cacti only gives 60 fruit a year and takes 8 years to grow
• Made of 85% water
• Spines are removed by hand before selling, very delicate process
• Praised for their sweetness
• Come in 4 different colours: White red purple and yellow
• Up to triple the price depending on the distance transported
• Bumpy drives can cause the pitayas to rot

Durian

• Grown in Thailand (300 varieties)
• Known for the unpleasant smell but also a sign of respect
• Refined and sweet pulp with a mild fragrance and creamy texture
• Lesser grade have a stronger smell and watery texture
• Grow Indian coral trees and legumes to nurture the soil
• Fresh water is bought (2200 a year) to water the trees, watered daily
• Take 6 years for a tree to bear fruit
• Harvesting season lasts for 90 to 150 days
• Each durian is protected in a plastic bag
• Harvested individually
• Hard to care for the trees with the pollution and climate crisis
• The older the tree, the tastier the fruit

(Golden) Kiwis

• Developed through cross breeding different yellow kiwis
• Smaller and sweeter
• "Designer" fruit
• Cant be grown without copyright permission from zespri - 14 million fine
• Hairless - Easily damaged
• Gloves are worn to avoid fingernails damaged
• Before harvesting a sample from the orchard must meet a criteria
• Takes 5 years for a tree to be ready
• Pruned and grown on a canopy
• Golden kiwi orchards produce less per tree than green
• Every kiwi is inspected to ensure the quality
• Lasts around 7 days ripe

Bananas

• Ripen in transport
• No seeds so can't be planted
• All genetic copies so very susceptible to diseases
• Biosecurity is now in place around the farms to stop fungus (cost millions)
• Cleaned with chlorine to stop insects
• Thrown into water to wash off the latex on the peel and preserves them
• Packaging has holes to allow for ripening
• Fungus goes into the soil, all area needs to be removed
• Trying to find a new banana to resist the fungus
• One exists but it is genetically modified (rejected)
• There are lots of breeds of bananas but there is mainly only one eaten

Buddhas Hand

• Sold in Vietnam
• Very little juice, pulp or taste
• The rind is what is tasty
• Fragrance is cool and pleasant
• Used in Vietnamese culture
• Harvesting all the fruits at once kills the trees as it has water that it doesn't know what to do with
• Gets rotten easily in the rain
• Requires lots of attention and care
• Take 10 years for the tree to bear fruit
• The more it looks like a hand the more it can be sold for
• Stays fresh for a long time
• Insects are very interested to the fruit and can destroy it easily, around 5-7% is destroyed
• Fingers can get broken off very easily