Sliced WA 64 apples present the freshly produced variety’s yellow-pink skin and white interior. The WSU-bred apple has remarkable eating and storage features. (Courtesy of Washington Condition College)
Washington has made a new apple assortment – all over again. And its creators want you to identify it.
WA 64 is a cross between a Honeycrisp and a Cripps Pink, also identified as a Pink Woman. It is tiny to medium in dimension, pink and yellow, and has “exceptional eating properties,” according to Washington Condition University’s School of Agricultural, Human and Organic Source Sciences.
While the new fruit won’t be accessible in grocery outlets right up until 2029, the university previous 7 days introduced a contest to come up with a catchy title.
Feeling innovative? You can enter online by Might 5.
The winner will get a gift box that contains the new apples, a charcuterie board with the contest-successful title engraved, a can of Cougar Gold Cheese, WSU spice rubs, and a college-themed espresso cup and drinking water bottle.
Title solutions with some relationship to the college or the condition of Washington will be given preference, and researchers want something “memorable and punchy,” according to Jeremy Tamsen, director of innovation and commercialization at the college.
You will have to be at the very least 18 decades aged to enter, and no profanity, current emblems, references to illegal substances or mash-ups of the variety’s parents’ names will fly.
Here’s some history on the fruit to get the juices flowing.
A crisp crossover
The university initially introduced the Honeycrisp and Pink Woman collectively in 1998 at the Wenatchee Tree Fruit Exploration and Extension Centre. It’s recently been trialed at study orchards throughout the point out. Trees will turn into broadly accessible to growers in 2026, and the apple will hit grocery shelves in 2029.
The to-be-named assortment normally takes on lots of attributes of its mother and father.
It is a little bit softer but considerably extra crisp and juicy than a Pink Lady. It is more challenging but significantly less crisp and juicy than a Honeycrisp.
Its history is yellow but amongst 40 to 70% of it is lined with a pink blush. “WA 64 is a great equilibrium of tart and sweet, agency, crisp, and juicy,” Kate Evans, professor and head of WSU’s apple breeding program instructed the college previously this week.
The apple will be completely developed in Washington for at minimum the future 10 many years. Washington makes 70% of the country’s apples, according to the point out Division of Agriculture. It’s also the state’s prime crop, producing up a far more than $2 billion sector.
The new selection marks the apple breeding program’s 64th apple to make it this much. The application also established the Cosmic Crisp, which introduced in 2019 and has turn into a single of the most well known apple versions in the region.
The article New Washington apple needs a name appeared to start with on Washington State Conventional.