Montague red-flesh apples planted in Australia but three-year wait looms

THE first red-flesh apples have been planted in Australia, but they’re still a few years away from hitting retail shelves.

THE first red-flesh apples have been planted in Australia, but they’re still a few years away from hitting retail shelves.

Montague has imported the plants from France and after nearly two years in quarantine, they have been planted in a range of locations around Australia.

One of the Montague dir­ectors, Scott Montague, said that while red-flesh apples had been around for a while, the “eating quality was not so good”.

“They were descended from a crab apple, so it’s taken a while to naturally breed a red-flesh apple that eats well,” Mr Montague said.

The kissabel apples were bred in France by international breeders Ifored and launched in Europe last week.

“Europe will have fruit this year, but in Australia quarantine takes 18 months to two years,” Mr Montague said.

One hundred trees of seven different varieties each were planted in regions including Batlow in NSW, Harcourt and Narre Warren, to see how they performed. “Depending on the climate it might change the flesh colour, for example a hotter climate might affect the redness of the flesh,” he said.

Mr Montague said fruit off the trees in March showed a very intense colour while the taste was somewhere between a pink lady and granny smith.

“I think they will look amazing in the food service industry, on a fruit platter with cheese,” he said.

The red-flesh varieties — kissabel rouge, orange and jaune — should be available in limited volumes in three years.