POMEGRANATE CRAB

SKILLCULT APPLE BREEDING PROJECT

 This page is for information on my seedling apple Pomegranate Crab

Pomegranate Crab is a cross between the dwarf red fleshed apple Maypole and Pink Parfait. It did not inheret the dwarf growth habit of Maypole, but it did inherit the red flesh. The flesh is more red than Maypole and the apple is more edible and refined.

Pomegrante crab tastes like Pomegranate. It has some crabbiness left from its crab heritage. Tannins are on the high side, but it is very edible. There has been a slight chalky flavor that I don’t recall encountering in an apple before. The sugar and acid seem fine, but the flavor drops away pretty fast. This phenomenon of the flavor sort of falling off a cliff is somewhat common in primitive red fleshed apples, especially in this genetic line. Aside from using it for further breeding, the main use for this apple will be cider and juice. The texture is light and pretty decent.

Pomegranate Crab has red fleshed genes from two different genetic lines. The red fleshed apples in the Maypole line generally have red bark, wood, leaves and flowers. The Etter line represented in this apple by Pink Parfait, does not show as much red pigment in the rest of the plant, mostly in the fruit flesh. Maypole contributed beautiful fall color, and no doubt it will have very pink flowers. I can’t recall the flowers, but Maypole has very large showy pink blossoms. The red wood genetic line also tends to be more primitive and also contributed the residual crabbiness like higher than average tannins, which will be appreciated by cider makers, but possibly less by those just munching on them. It is quite edible though and no doubt jam packed with pro antioxidants and other beneficial phytonutrients.

As far as breeding goes, I will likely pursue this one a little bit. I hesitate to invest a lot in the red wood line, as the Etter line seems to yield quicker and possibly just better results. It seems likely though, that crossing this with high quality dessert apples may very well yield good results, even in the first generation. Mixing these two red fleshed lines even more is intriguing. For cider makers, I think this is a promising parent. In all cases, I would tend to cross it with richly flavored apples to steer away from the thinner presentation that the red wood line brings to the table.

I don’t see any reason that anyone but cider makers would want more than a small branch of Pomegranate Crab, but you never know.