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Reinette Russet
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Shahrokh Khanizadeh1, François
Laurens2, Yves
Lespinasse2, Yvon
Groleau1, Johanne
Cousineau1, Odile
Carisse1 and
Jennifer DeEll3
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1 Agriculture
and Agri-Food Canada,
Horticultural Research and
Development Center, 430 Boul.
Gouin, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu,
Quebec, Canada J3B 3E6
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2 INRA
- C.R. d'Angers, Unité
d'Amélioration des Espèces
Fruitières et Ornementales, 42 rue
Georges Morel, B.P. 57 - 49071
Beaucouzé Cedex - France
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3 Ontario
Ministry of Agriculture, Food and
Rural Affairs, 4890 Victoria Ave
N, Box 8000, Vineland Station, ON,
Canada L0R 2E0
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‘Reinette Russet’ is being
released as a replacement for
‘Golden Russet’, which is
presently being grown in Eastern
Canada for the production of apple
cider and specialty markets. This
new cultivar produces larger fruit
than ‘Golden Russet’, is hardier
and it is partially resistant to
apple scab (Venturia inaequalis(Cke)
Wint.). The fruit has a pleasant
flavor and it is very sweet, which
should give it a market as a
specialty item.
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Availability
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Origin:
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'Reinette Russet', tested as
X4362, is a mutation of ‘Reine des
Reinettes'. It was first selected
at the Fruit and Ornamental Plant
Breeding Unit (FOPBU) of the
Institut National de la Recherche
Agronomique (INRA) located in
Angers (France) and then sent to
Quebec for further evaluation. ‘Reinette
Russet’ is being released by the
Quebec apple breeding program
(QAPB) located at the Agriculture
and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)
station in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu
(Quebec). The Quebec apple
breeding program has been active
at the Frelighsburg sub-station of
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
(AAFC) since 1970. The program was
originally started by Dr. Lloyd
Spangelo at the Ottawa Research
Station. The genetic material was
transferred to Frelighsburg in
1970 as part of a consolidation of
programs by the Government of
Canada. The present goals of the
breeding program are the
development of hardy and disease
resistant cultivars suitable for
Eastern Canada (Khanizadeh et al.,
2000a) and the development of
efficient and hardy rootstocks
(Khanizadeh et al., 2000b).
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Tree characteristics: ‘Reinette
Russet’ trees are weak to
moderately vigorous with an
upright-spreading shape when
grafted on the rootstock M.26. The
bearing habit is type II, which
means that the fruit are borne on
2 to 4 year old shoots (Lespinasse,
1977). ‘Reinette Russet’
 trees
are hardy at our agricultural
sub-station in Frelighsburg,
Quebec (latitude 45.0465), which
has an average winter minimum
temperature of –25 ºC. They are
resistant to apple scab at our
site in Frelighsburg, while there
has been some evidence of
infection in INRA experimental
orchards and for this reason this
cultivar is considered only
partially resistant at that site.
No signs of powdery mildew (Podosphaera
leucotricha (Ell.
& Ev.) Salm.) or fireblight (Erwinia
amylovora (Butt.)
Winslow et al.) infection were
observed in Frelighsburg during
the course of evaluation. The
leaves are medium-small to medium
size and elliptic with serrate to
double serrate margins. The
underside of the leaves is very
hairy, the apex is acuminate to
cuspidate and the base is oblique.
The average leaf length to width
ratio is 1.6 and the petioles are
hairy, 1.7 to 2.9 cm long with
long and thin stipules when young.
The surface of the leaves is
medium green and weakly glossy.
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Flower characteristics:
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Flowering starts at the same time
as ‘McIntosh’ and 3 days after
‘Golden Russet’ in Frelighsburg.
Unopened flowers are dark pink
(60A; Royal Horticultural Society
Colour Chart (RHS), 1995) in full
balloon stage and the flowers are
single. The ovate to oblong petals
are touching and are mainly white
with dark pink veining (RHS 61B)
on the surface. The underside of
the petals is similar to the
surface except that the veining
varies from RHS 61A to 61B. The
pedicels are green and red.
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Fruit characteristics:
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 'Reinette
Russet' fruit mature in early to
mid-October in Frelighsburg, about
1 to 2 weeks before 'Golden
Russet', 1 week after 'Cortland'
and at least 2 weeks after
'McIntosh'. The fruit vary in size
from medium-small to medium-large
(axial diameter 52 to 62 mm,
transverse diameter 63 to 76 mm).
The fruit weight ranges from 117
to 204 g with an overall average
of 151 g. The shape can be
round-conic, flat-round-conic or
oblate, and the average length to
width ratio is 0.81. The outline
of the fruit is mainly regular
although it can be slightly
angular in some samples. The skin
is average in thickness and very
rough because it is covered by
fine to medium russet. The color
is mainly brownish-yellow (RHS
163B) with faded to medium red
(RHS 179A) stripes on the sunny
side. There is an average number
of large and swollen lenticels
that can be russeted and the bloom
is scant. The stem is short,
pubescent, olive-green to
reddish-brown and is average in
diameter. The cavity is acuminate
to acute, russeted, with a medium
depth and width. The basin is
average depth to slightly deep,
medium width to wide and the
slightly downy surface is smooth
to a bit wavy.  The
medium size to large calyx is
persistent with erect lobes, open,
and the calyx tube is
funnel-shaped; the stamens are in
median position. The closed to
partly open core is medium size
and is located in median position
with prominent clasping core
lines. The carpels are ovate and
may be cracked, but there is no
tufting present. The distal end of
the carpels is emarginate and the
cells are symmetrical and axile.
The seeds are large, flattened on
one side, not tufted and have an
acute to obtuse tip. The flesh is
greenish-white, juicy, breaking,
firm (8.1 kg as measured by a
EPT-1 pressure tester made by Lake
City Technical Products Inc.) and
browns quickly after cutting. The
flesh is high in soluble solids
(14.9%) and acidity (1.0% malic
acid). The flavor is very sweet
and good. The fruit have a
tendency to develop water core
especially after storage. After
4.5 months in a regular cold room
the flesh is still fairly firm
(6.7 kg), the acidity is average
(0.53%) and the soluble solids are
still high (16.1%).
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Post Harvest, storage: The
juice produced from stored apples
is golden honey yellow. Storage in
CA is not recommended since a
large percentage of the fruits
suffer from senescence during
extended storage.
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Other characteristics:
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Ciders produced from 'Reinette
Russet' and 'McIntosh' apples were
evaluated by a panel of expert
judges from the "Wine Judges
Commission of Ontario". The single
variety ciders were produced from
juice that had been extracted from
apples at harvest and frozen for 8
months. 'Reinette Russet' apples
produced a dark yellow cider with
rich, baked apple, clove and
cinnamon aromas. The cider had
complex apple flavors with a
pleasant tannin level but a low
acid level which resulted in a
short finish. The high sugar
content of the fruit may have been
responsible for the short finish.
'Reinette Russet' apples are
recommended for use in the
production of cider and fruit wine
due to the complexity of the
flavors. They are not recommended
for the production of sparkling
cider. In contrast, cider produced
from 'McIntosh' apples was pale
green with cardamon, ginger, candy
and caramel aromas. It had simple,
clean and sweet apple flavors and
light tannin levels. The acid
balance was slightly better than
for 'Reinette Russet' and it had a
long finish. The sugar level was
high almost to the point of
unacceptability. 'McIntosh' apples
are recommended for the production
of sparking apple cider and the
addition of a bitter wine might
help round out flavors and balance
the sugar level. Overall, both
types of cider were considered
acceptable although judges
preferring a complex cider flavor
favored 'Reinette Russet' while
those preferring a simple cider
flavor preferred 'McIntosh'.
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Adaptation & availability: A
Trademark is pending for 'Reinette
Russet'. Limited quantities of
nonindexed budwood are available
for research purposes
(universities and research
stations) from S.K. (North
America) or from F.L. (Europe)
with a written request. Trees
and/or budwood material may be
obtained from Brandt's Fruit Trees
Inc. in the USA and Canada.
Nurseries may inquire about
"non-exclusive sub-licences"
directly to:
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Lynnell Brandt
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Brandt's Fruit Trees, Inc.
P.O. Box 10 Parker,
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WA 98939 (509) 877-3193
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Fax (509) 877-2737
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email: lynnell@ewbrandt.com
To order please contact Pépinière
Rochon inc.
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