Comparing the Harvest and Storage 

 Characteristics of IVIutsu and Shizul<a 

 Apples 



Sarah A. Weis, Duane W. Greene, and William J. Bramlage 

 Department of Plant & Soil Sciences, University of Massachusetts 



There is interest, especially among apple growers 

 who are retailing fruit, to find new "niche" varieties 

 which consumers like and which can be profitably 

 grown and sold. A green/yellow Fall cultivar is 

 something customers look for (the Granny Smith 

 influence). We have been attempting to identify some 

 of the most promising varieties suitable for growing in 

 the northeast by planting and systematically evaluat- 

 ing apples at the University of Massachusetts' Cold 

 Spring Orchard Research & Education Center 

 (CSOREC) in Belchertown, MA. For the past four 

 years we have been evaluating storage qualities of 

 Mutsu and Shizuka. Mutsu, also knowoi as Crispin, is 

 a variety which has consumer following, but it is 

 susceptible to Blister Spot, a bacterial disease which 

 renders fruit unsaleable. Shizuka is a similar apple 

 (same parents. Golden Delicious x Indo) which 

 appears to be resistant to Blister Spot and has been 



suggested to be an alternative to Mutsu. The two 

 apples are quite similar in appearance. They are large 

 fairly round green/yellow fruit which often develop a 

 pink blush. Shizuka may be considered slightly more 

 attractive as its skin is smoother and it has less 

 tendency to russet (although russet is not severe on 

 Mutsu, either). Lenticels are attractive and are more 

 noticeable on Shizuka than on Mutsu. We have 

 compared storage qualities of these two varieties over 

 the past four seasons. 



Harvest Information 



Three trees of each cultivar from a block at 

 CSOREC were used for the evaluations. Trees were 

 planted in 1991, and all are on Mark rootstock. Each 

 tree produced 3 to 4 bushels of fruit in each of the four 

 years. 



Fruit Notes, Volume 67, Summer, 2002 



