The World of Apples

Apple varieties, France

Kermerrien

Bitter cider apple of Finistère, among the most planted in Brittany in the 1990s and much used in French breeding

History

Kermerrien is a bitter cider apple of unknown origin from Finistère, in Brittany1. Its name is also written Kermerien, Kermerrier, Kermerrion and Kermorrien1. The specification of the Cidre de Bretagne geographical indication, which describes Breton orchards up to 1996, names it with Fréquin Rouge, Marie Ménard and Jeanne Renard as the varieties most planted in Brittany3. It lists Kermerrien among the varieties recommended under French orders of 20 April 1967 and 30 May 1980, and marks it as one of those dominant in new plantings3. In 1997 it was ninth among the eleven most planted cider apples in France, which together made up 75 per cent of plantings4.

It is one of the phenolic (bitter and bittersweet) varieties authorised for Cornouaille, the sparkling cider of forty communes in Finistère2. It is also allowed for Calvados, Calvados Pays d’Auge, Calvados Domfrontais and Pommeau de Normandie, and as an accessory variety for Cotentin and Perche cider1.

INRA and the IFPC have used Kermerrien widely in breeding cider apples4. An INRA hybrid derived from it, X5210, was one parent of 285 seedlings planted at INRA Angers-Nantes in 2003 and used to map the genetics of the apple’s phenolic compounds4. In a project of 2019–2021 the IFPC used Kermerrien as one of the reference varieties against which it judged cider apples from breeding programmes in France and elsewhere in Europe5.

The fruit

The fruit varies from small to large; it is ovoid or conical, fairly elongated to elongated, and striped and strongly coloured red1. The flesh is sweet but very slightly bitter, yellowish white, very juicy and scented; the juice is pale and the cider bitter1. The Normandy appellations’ variety directory gives the juice 22.17 milliequivalents of acid and 4.32 grams of polyphenols per litre, and 100 kilograms of fruit yield 67.13 kilograms of juice1; In 1999 Sanoner and colleagues reported 4,500 milligrams of polyphenols per kilogram of fresh fruit4. Studies have found bitter and bittersweet varieties, Kermerrien among them, richer than others in dihydrochalcones4. In Kermerrien, Guyot and colleagues found 65 per cent of the fruit’s polyphenols in the flesh, 24 per cent in the peel, 10 per cent in the core and 1 per cent in the pips (1998), and when fully ripe fruit was pressed, 77.2 per cent of its polyphenols passed into the juice, against 56.9 per cent in Avrolles (2003)4. The directory rates its keeping as medium1.

Growing

The tree is vigorous and tall, slow to come into bearing, and crops well, with a moderate tendency to bear in alternate years; it is easy to train and suits moderately fertile soils1. It is slightly or moderately susceptible to scab and canker, slightly susceptible to powdery mildew and little affected by fire blight1. At the IFPC’s five trial orchards in Normandy, the Sarthe and Brittany, it flowered on average between 26 and 30 April in 2019–20215.

Where the sources disagree

  • Season. The Normandy appellations’ directory gives maturity from October to December1. At the IFPC’s trial orchards, half of Kermerrien’s fruit had fallen naturally, on average over 2019–2021, between 15 September and 15 October5.

Sources

  1. Kermerien or Kermerrien (in French), Normandie, Terre d'Appellations Cidricoles (aocidricoles.fr), variety directory of the Normandy cider appellations. Supports: the names Kermerien or Kermerrien and the synonyms Kermerrier, Kermerrion and Kermorrien; origin "Inconnue, localisée dans le Finistère"; fruit striped, bicoloured to red, strongly coloured red, ovoid or conical, fairly elongated or elongated, small, medium or large; maturity October, November and December; keeping medium; flavour bitter; tree tall ("élevé"), flowering in April and May, production good, slightly or moderately susceptible to scab and canker, slightly susceptible to powdery mildew, little susceptible to fire blight on flowers and shoots, biennial bearing medium, vigour strong, easy to train, slow to come into bearing, to be planted in moderately fertile soils; phenolic for Calvados, Calvados Pays d'Auge, Calvados Domfrontais and Pommeau de Normandie, an accessory variety for Cotentin (bitter and bittersweet) and Perche (bitter); a cider apple; flesh sweet, very slightly bitter, yellowish white, very juicy and scented; juice pale; cider bitter; juice acidity 22.17 meq/L, density 1062.1 kg/m³, polyphenols 4.32 g/L, extraction yield 67.13 kg/100 kg.
  2. Specification of the designation of origin "Cornouaille" (in French), Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité (INAO); approved by order of 22 March 2019, Journal officiel of 29 March 2019; Bulletin officiel du Ministère de l'agriculture et de l'alimentation no. 2019-14, 2019-03-29. Supports: Cornouaille a sparkling cider from local and traditional varieties, its area 40 communes of Finistère in Brittany; varieties classed by the flavour of the must as phenolic (bitter and bittersweet), sweet or acidic; Kermerrien among the authorised phenolic varieties.
  3. Specification for the production of "Cidre de Bretagne", with the list of recommended cider-fruit varieties (in French), Syndicat National des Industries Cidricoles and other applicants; European Commission, eAmbrosia register of geographical indications. Supports: Breton orchards described up to 1996 (low-stemmed plantings "se sont poursuivies jusqu'en 1996"); "Les variétés les plus plantées en Bretagne sont Frequin Rouge, Kermerrien, Marie Ménard, Jeanne Renard"; p. 22: Kermerrien among the varieties recommended under the orders of 20 April 1967 and 30 May 1980, underlined as one of the "variétés dominantes dans les nouvelles plantations".
  4. Genetic mapping of the phenolic compounds of the apple, doctoral thesis (in French), Cindy Verdu, Université d'Angers; HAL open archive, 2013. Supports: p. 17 (PDF p. 40), citing Boré and Fleckinger (1997): Kermerrien ninth of the eleven most planted varieties in 1997, which made up 75% of plantings; PDF p. 55, citing Guyot and others (1998): the flesh holds 65% of the polyphenols assayed in Kermerrien, the peel 24%, the core 10% and the pips 1%; PDF p. 56, citing Guyot and others (2003): 77.2% of the polyphenols transferred to the juice in Kermerrien, against 56.9% in Avrolles, for fully ripe fruit; PDF p. 151: the 285 seedlings of the mapping population, planted at INRA Angers-Nantes in 2003, from a cross of X5210, derived from Kermerrien, "a well known French cider apple variety"; PDF p. 120: Kermerrien 4,500 mg/kg fresh weight of polyphenols (Sanoner and others, 1999); PDF p. 190: bitter and bittersweet varieties, notably Kermerrien, richer in dihydrochalcones; Kermerrien a parent of X5210 and "très utilisée dans les programmes d'amélioration des variétés à cidre menées par l'INRA et l'IFPC".
  5. POMEVAL project: evaluation and characterisation of high-performing, sustainable plant material adapted to the needs of the cider sector, final report (in French), Marie-Cécile Vergneaud, Institut français des productions cidricoles (IFPC). Supports: a project begun on 1 January 2019 for 36 months; varieties from cider-apple breeding programmes in France and elsewhere in Europe evaluated against known control varieties, Kermerrien and Dabinett among them; trial orchards at Berthouville (Eure), Courgains (Sarthe), Parigny (Manche), Taden (Côtes-d'Armor) and Sées (Orne); table 20: Kermerrien's mean flowering date over 2019–2021 at all sites "entre le 26 avril et le 30 avril"; table 21: its mean date of 50% natural fruit fall over 2019–2021 between 15 September and 15 October.

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