OPAL® ('UEB 32642') - THE APPLE THAT VISITED THE UNIVERSE
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'UEB 32642' / Opal® is a club variety that thrives best in sunny, dry, wine-growing areas. It is suitable for intensive commercial orchards (managed under conditions of organic and integrated production) with irrigation. Its full, honey-sweet flavour, firm flesh that naturally does not turn brown when cut, and rusty appearance are what make Opal® unique.
In 2015, the Johnson Space Center and grower Broetje Orchards (today part of FirstFruits Farms) went for Opal® when searching for apples to send to the astronauts at the International Space Station. This is documented by a unique photo of astronauts Terry Virts and Samantha Cristoforetti with apples floating in weightlessness.
"When we got the request for apples we knew right away that we wanted to send Opal, the most special apple in our line-up."
Ralph Broetje, owner of Broetje Orchards
Today Opal® is one of our most popular varieties, with mean annual plantings of about 240,000 trees. So far, nearly 3.5 mil trees have been planted in the world, especially in Europe and the USA.
Read more about the story of Opal® and how it happened that this exceptional apple was launched into space on Growing Produce and on the Transfer Portal of the Czech Academy of Science.
Origin: 'Golden Delicious' x 'Topaz'
Tree: habit ramified, moderately vigorous, upright to spreading, branching dense, fruiting spurs medium to short
Blossom: early to medium, about 1-2 days before 'Golden Delicious', blooming period medium
Productivity: precocious, similar to 'Golden Delicious', high and regular if light thinning conducted
Disease resistance: resistant to scab, tolerant to powdery mildew and fire blight, bitter pit does not occur
PVR:
Community Plant Variety Rights EU 16749 (granted 30.01.2006)
Plant Variety Rights in Morocco N° 013/15 (granted 15.01.2015)
Plant Variety Rights in Turkey TR 2012/023 (granted 29.06.2012)
Picking time: early October, together with 'Golden Delicious'
Ready to eat: 3 weeks after picking
Storability: very good, in natural storage about 6 months (until April)
Fruit size/shape: medium, globose to slightly conical, ribbing very weak, stem medium
Colour: golden yellow to orange skin with russet mainly in the stem cavity, no bloom and greasiness
Flesh and flavour: flesh yellow, non-browning after cutting, firm, crunchy, fine- to medium-grained, medium juicy, flavour full, aromatic, honey-sweet (15.2°Brix), mildly subacid, very good
'UEB 32642' is a club variety and is grown and marketed under the club's conditions and the trademark Opal® owned by the companies fruit.select, Germany and Varieties International, USA.