A Chilean breeding project with government backing aims to create a sweeter Fuji apple with higher vitamin A and antioxidant content. The long term program has Asian buyers in mind, led by scientists Dr Michael Handford and Dr Claudia Stange from the Universidad de Chile. At www.freshfruitportal.com we catch up with both researchers to discuss their results to date and the potential future of this Japanese origin variety.

The first stage of the project began in 2008 with the aim of increasing the sweetness of Chilean Fuji apples, and was completed in November last year.

Statistics from the country's Office of Agricultural Studies and Policy (ODEPA) show the variety yielded US$68.3 million in revenue last year, compared to US$25.8 million in 2002. Around 60% of the crop is shipped to Asia, and with that market's tastes for sweeter fruit in mind, British scientist Handford decided to embark on the project.

"I work and I have worked for some time on the metabolism of sugars and carbohydrates in plants, and I was interested in trying to link the country's needs with my own interests," he says.

The research is led by the university's Faculty of Sciences, with support from government-run promoter of innovation and entrepreneurship Corfo, nursery Univiveros and the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

Handford explains the research has recently commenced a stage of generating a platform to introduce the desired characteristics to the fruit.

"At the end of this stage we hope to have a plant growing in vitro that contains the traits we are introducing, and later in the second stage grow fruiting plants."

He says the process simply involves changing the existing sugar composition within the fruit in a natural way.

"We are not putting in any sugar that will be different to the rest - a typical apple, depending on the variety, has 100 calories and we are not increasing the sugar quantities."

Dr Claudia Stange adds that sweeter apples have higher fructose levels, which makes them a good product for diabetics and diets generally.

Antioxidant-rich fruit flesh

In modifying apples the researchers decided it would be beneficial to add another strong selling-point to the fruit - increasing the levels of Vitamin A and antioxidants, in the flesh and not just in the peel.

This was the basis for the application to the Development Fund for Scientific and Technological Promotion (Fondef), which was approved in 2011.

"We established a link with my research on the synthesis of carotenoids, which are potentially beneficial to humans because they are precursors of vitamin A, and very powerful antioxidant agents," says Stange.

"Apples have some antioxidant anthocyanins in the peel, but we want is to produce antioxidant carotenoids in the flesh, which are pigments that give the colors yellow, orange and red - we are mainly focused on orange, which is beta-carotene, a precursor of Vitamin A."

Stange clarifies that both research arms of the project - sweetness and antioxidants - are used on the same apple variety but are separate investigations. However, she does not rule out a linkage between the two lines in the future.

"They have to start in an independent way so they can firstly be evaluated. We have to select the lines of apples with the sweetness we want for international markets, and also to select lines that have the color and antioxidant component that are desired by our consumers, and from there we can apply traditional breeding between the lines with both features."

Handford says the platform can develop fruit that is suited to different business needs, such as resistance to environmental stress or certain pathogens. He says it is an expertise that in the past has mainly been used for grapes and stonefruit.

"We are open to proposals from businesses or nurseries that are interested in something we could support, whether it be the in vitro cultivaion, participation in projects underway or new proposals."

A long term project

After the current stages of the project are finalized, the next step will be the evaluation of how the fruit behaves, which can be observed once the plants are bearing fruits by year three or four. That's why market entry could take 13-14 more years.

"We have conducted a study that shows commercialization starting with 2.5 hectares of apple cultivation in year 13 could have a penetration of 1%, so by year 16 there should be an effective production, and after 20 years and with more or less 500 hectares we could reach the maximum of what is projected in the implementation and cultivation of these kinds of apples for export," says Stange.

"It will be a different apple and in some way we have to enter other countries talking about its benefits to different consumers, and this is something we could do within the laboratory. It's absolutely essential to have collaboration of the companies and groups involved," adds Handford.

Would you like to know more about this research project? The scientists are open to respond to inquiries. Questions can be sent to comunic@uchile.cl.

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