Taiwan Today

Following on successful export of the hybrid pineapple-custard apple, the new “Green Diamond” variety from the Chulu area of Beinan Township, Taitung County, holds great promise in the export market, according to its discover Cheng Chun-feng. Cheng said that the fruit is large and ships well, while retaining the usual mouthfeel of the common varieties of custard apples. Cheng was inspecting his orchard eight years ago when he accidentally discovered fruit on a pineapple-custard apple tree that was different from the fruit on the other trees near it. After many years of cultivation, the skin of this fruit was green, and the mouthfeel was identical to an ordinary custard apple, except that it held a hint of sugar cane flavor. The quality of the variety is already very stable. Most interestingly, pineapple-custard apples must be cut up with a knife to be eaten, but the Green Diamond fruits can be peeled with the fingers alone. The fruits are large in size, and usually come in around the one-kilogram mark. The largest has weighed in at 2.5 kilograms. Currently, there are a dozen-odd farmers in the Chulu area growing this new variety on about 20 hectares of land. Cheng said because most ordinary custard apples become soft and ripe quickly, it is impossible to ship them effectively, so exports have been out of the question. But like pineapple-custard apples, the Green Diamond fruits can be shipped at low temperatures, opening up hopes that they will become a staple of Taitung County fruit exports. The Green Diamond custard apples currently sell for NT$80 (US$2.48) per jin (600 grams), about 40 percent cheaper than pineapple-custard apples. Cheng explained that these plants need two years after grafting to bear fruit, and three to four years if grown from seed. The new variety will be in widespread production in the Chulu area next year, and should gradually become available for export.