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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Davis, California » Nat'l Clonal Germplasm Rep - Tree Fruit & Nut Crops & Grapes » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #332926
Title: Pomegranate: the grainy apple

Author
item Preece, John
item Moersfelder, Jeff

Submitted to: Journal of the American Pomological Society
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/2/2016
Publication Date: 10/1/2016
Citation: Preece, J.E., Moersfelder, J.W. 2016. Pomegranate: the grainy apple. Journal of American Pomological Society. 70(4):187-193.

Interpretive Summary: ‘Parfianka’ (Garnet Sash) has dark red, large to very large fruit and arils with soft seeds. The taste is sweet with balanced acidity offering interest to the flavor (Kennedy, 2010). It tested with 15.2 °Brix and a TA of 1.04 (Table 2), attesting for the sugar-acid balance. It was selected in Turkmenistan by O.F. Mizgiryova, N.I. Zaktrager, and A.D. Strebkova, VIR Kara-Kala Experiment Station, Turkmenistan. There, it is a traditional cultivar (Kennedy, 2010). It was received by the NCGR in 1995 as some of the original material from Turkmenistan. It is reported to be Dr. G.M. Levin’s favorite from the Turkmenistan collection. Dr. Levin was a botanist who worked most of his career at the Kara-Kala Experiment Station where he managed the world’s largest pomegranate collection. The fruit is easily harvested and ripen with or before Wonderful (Kennedy (2010). Hardwood cuttings root readily and it produces moderately dense trees. In informal taste tests at the NCGR fruit tastings, fresh ‘Parfianka’ consistently outscores ‘Wonderful,’ the primary cultivar grown in the USA.

Technical Abstract: ‘Parfianka’ (Garnet Sash) has dark red, large to very large fruit and arils with soft seeds. The taste is sweet with balanced acidity offering interest to the flavor (Kennedy, 2010). It tested with 15.2 °Brix and a TA of 1.04 (Table 2), attesting for the sugar-acid balance. It was selected in Turkmenistan by O.F. Mizgiryova, N.I. Zaktrager, and A.D. Strebkova, VIR Kara-Kala Experiment Station, Turkmenistan. There, it is a traditional cultivar (Kennedy, 2010). It was received by the NCGR in 1995 as some of the original material from Turkmenistan. It is reported to be Dr. G.M. Levin’s favorite from the Turkmenistan collection. Dr. Levin was a botanist who worked most of his career at the Kara-Kala Experiment Station where he managed the world’s largest pomegranate collection. The fruit is easily harvested and ripen with or before Wonderful (Kennedy (2010). Hardwood cuttings root readily and it produces moderately dense trees. In informal taste tests at the NCGR fruit tastings, fresh ‘Parfianka’ consistently outscores ‘Wonderful,’ the primary cultivar grown in the USA.