New Purple Queen pomegranate receives CPVO protection

Mateu Chilet, head of the Development Department at Genesis Innovation Group, told FreshPlaza that "Purple Queen® has successfully undergone meticulous controls carried out over several years by the Variety Identification Technical Examination Unit, which has determined that this new variety is unique, uniform and with stable characteristics and differential attributes."

Chilet also said that "the Purple Queen® is a very interesting pomegranate, given its extra-early harvesting. Its ripeness becomes optimal in the second half of August (northern hemisphere), allowing it to fill a gap in the market. It stands out for having a very attractive appearance. Its peel is dark red, almost purple, and the arils have a very striking red hue. Moreover, it has a sweet flavour and semisoft arils."

The size of the fruits is medium, with an average of between 300 and 350 grams. The productivity is good, reaching around 25 to 30 tonnes per hectare under normal conditions and in mature fields.

MR 100® and Kingdom®, both from the same improvement program and which also obtained the Community Plant Variety Protection last year, are the other varieties in Genesis Innovation Group's range. The three varieties have been requested for registration in key pomegranate producing countries outside the European Union, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, in order to ensure a continuous fruit supply.

According to Genesis Innovation Group, "these varieties are an improvement on the current supply for the fresh and fresh cut markets, so they are achieving good success among the customers. Furthermore, given its fantastic internal characteristics, several leading companies in the juice manufacturing sector have shown their interest in the development of exclusive products made from these varieties, which entails more possibilities for the producers."

Worldwide, and despite the recent launch of these new varieties, more than 700 hectares have already been planted and demand continues to increase after the granting of the Plant Variety Protection.

Viveros Caliplant, based in San Javier, Murcia, is the exclusive seller of the seedlings of these three pomegranate varieties for Spain and other countries. To celebrate the variety's CPVO protection, Viveros Caliplant will apply a discount on the price of the plant to all orders that use the promotional code "FRESHCALI" during the ordering process. The promotion is limited to the first 15,000 units and only applicable to the Purple Queen® variety.