New grape cultivar 'Honey Venus'

摘要

'Honey Venus' is a new tetraploid grape cultivar (Vitis labruscana Bailey X V. vinifera L.) with yellow-green large berries for table use, released by the Persimmon and Grape Research Center (presently the Department of Grape and Persimmon Research) of the National Institute of Fruit Tree Science, Akitsu, Hiroshima, Japan, in 1998. It is distinguished in a high eating quality characterized by sweetness, good flavor and flesh texture. 'Honey Venus' resulted from the cross between 'Benizuiho' and 'Olympia' in 1980. 'Honey Venus' was selected at Akitsu in 1989, and tested its adaptability at 34 locations from Kagoshima to Hokkaido in 32 prefectures under the 8th grape regional trial initiated in 1992. The vines of 'Honey Venus' are vigorous. The color of woody shoots is dark brown. The leaves are three-lobed. The sprouting time is similar to that of 'Kyoho'. Seeded berry set in 'Honey Venus' is easier than that in 'Kyoho', however, it needs light pruning, flower-cluster trimming, and moderate fertilization for obtaining well-filled bunches. The flowers are perfect and their blooming time is nearly the same as those of 'Kyoho'. Disease resistance in 'Honey Venus' is fairly high, but little more sensitive to ripe rot and powdery mildew than that in 'Kyoho'. The fruit cluster is cylindrical in shape. The berries are elliptical. The berry skin is a slip skin, similar to that of 'Kyoho'. The fruit ripens in late August to early September in the central area of Japan, which is the same season of that of 'Kyoho'. The berry weighs 8-10 g, which is 3g smaller than 'Kyoho'. The flesh has an intermediate texture between crisp and tough, and little firmer than that of 'Kyoho'. Soluble solids concentration is around 21%, which is 2% higher than that of 'Kyoho'. The titratable acidity is around 0.5 g/100ml, similar to that of 'Kyoho'. The flavor is good and seems to be a mixed one of muscat and foxy. Cracking of the berry has been observed very rarely. The berries have little astringency occasionally, depending on cultural conditions. The shelf life is not long as 'Kyoho' is.