The World of Apples

Apple varieties, France

R201

A red-fleshed apple from a 2006 cross at Seiches-sur-le-Loir, France; sold under the trade mark Kissabel Rouge

History

R201 comes from a controlled cross made at Seiches-sur-le-Loir, France, in 2006, between MNR33S1A51, an unpatented selection, as the seed parent and Galaxy as the pollen parent; Valérie Fouillet is named as its inventor1. R201 was chosen from the seedlings for its red-fleshed fruit, suited to the fresh market, and first grafted in 20111. The US plant patent, filed in March 2016 and granted on 25 July 2017, was assigned to International Fruit Obtentions (IFO); in 2019 it passed to Mondial Fruit Selection, which then changed its name to IFO S.A.R.L.1. A Community plant variety right, now held by IFO S.A.R.L., was applied for in May 2016, giving 6 January 2016 as the date of first sale in the European Union, in France; examined in France by GEVES, the right was granted on 15 April 2019 and runs until the end of 20492.

In October 2017, at the Fruit Attraction fair in Madrid, Ifored, a consortium of producers with International Fruit Obtention as the holder of the rights, launched Kissabel as a brand for red-fleshed apples first developed in France; Kissabel Rouge, Kissabel Jaune and Kissabel Orange were to undergo market trials in Europe that season4. Ifored’s chairman, Bruno Essner, called the launch the latest step in a twenty-year programme, and the partners aimed to grow the apples in 13 countries within five years4. R201’s fruit is sold under the trade mark Kissabel Rouge, which the EU marketing standard for apples lists against the variety3.

The fruit

In the patent’s description from Seiches-sur-le-Loir the fruit averages 218 g, 78 mm across and 67 mm high; it is globose and moderately ribbed, with a strong bloom, a dark purple-brown flush over most of the skin, and russet around the stalk and on the cheeks1. About four-fifths of the flesh is red and the rest white; it is medium firm, medium to coarse and moderately juicy, sweet, with berry flavours and 15 per cent Brix1. It is larger than its seed parent, whose flesh is dark pink-red rather than red, and it ripens five weeks after Galaxy, with more russet1. At the launch Kissabel Rouge was described as deep red, with red and white flesh, full flavour and notes of berry4.

Growing

The trees described in the patent, three years old on Cepiland rootstock, were of medium vigour, branching and drooping, and about 2 m tall1. In 2015 they began to flower on 17 April and were in full bloom on 22 April; Gala, Granny Smith and Golden Delicious are suitable pollinators1. The leaves are dark green, brown beneath with dark purple veins1. The fruit is picked late, with Braeburn, in two or three passes; the trees averaged 92 fruits each, and the variety is resistant to scab1.

Uses

The patent gives fresh eating as its market use1. Flachowsky and colleagues at the Julius Kühn-Institut count Kissabel among the newer red-fleshed apples that taste better than the older ones, though they thought it too early to say whether these would succeed in the market5.

Family tree

Parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, as the entries in the atlas record them.

R201
Where R201 came from.

Sources

  1. US Plant Patent 28,218: Apple tree named R201, Valérie Fouillet, for International Fruit Obtentions (IFO); United States Patent and Trademark Office, via Google Patents, 2017-07-25. Supports: filed on 18 March 2016 and granted on 25 July 2017, inventor Valérie Fouillet, assigned to International Fruit Obtentions (IFO) GIE, in 2019 to Mondial Fruit Selection, which changed its name to IFO S.A.R.L.; a controlled cross of MNR33S1A51 (female parent, not patented) × Galaxy (male parent, US Plant Patent 6,955) "carried out at Seiches sur le Loir, France in 2006", the seedlings planted there and R201 selected, first grafted there in 2011; selected for its red-fleshed fruit, well suited to the fresh market; larger than MNR33S1A51 (218 g against 156 g) and red-fleshed where it is dark pink-red; harvested 5 weeks after Galaxy, with more russet; flavour sweet, strawberry; described at Seiches sur le Loir in 2015 on three-year-old trees on Cepiland rootstock: medium vigour, ramified, drooping, about 2 m; first bloom 17 April and full bloom 22 April 2015; Gala, Granny Smith and Golden Delicious suitable pollinators; leaves dark green above, brown beneath with dark purple veins; fruit 78 mm wide, 67 mm high, 218 g, globose, moderately ribbed, strong bloom, a large dark purple-brown solid flush, much russet around the stalk cavity and moderate russet on the cheeks; flesh medium firm, medium to rough, medium juicy, 15 Brix, 80% red and 20% white; "Sweet, berry flavors"; harvest late, similar to Braeburn, in 2 to 3 picks; an average of 92 fruits per tree; resistant to scab; for fresh consumption.
  2. Community plant variety rights register, public search: R201, Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO). Supports: denomination R201 (Malus domestica); applicant shown as IFO S.A.R.L.; application 20161039 of 25 May 2016; first sale in the EU on 6 January 2016, in France; examination office GEVES, France; grant 52339 of 15 April 2019; expiry date 31/12/2049.
  3. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2429, Annex I, Part B, Part 1 (marketing standard for apples), Appendix: non-exhaustive list of apple varieties, European Commission; Official Journal of the European Union, L series, 3 November 2023, 2023-08-17. Supports: R201 listed with the trade mark "Kissabel® Rouge" in the column of "references to known trademarks", given "for information only".
  4. Kissabel: new brand for red-flesh apples, Mike Knowles, Eurofruit (Fruitnet), 2017-10-18. Supports: the Kissabel brand unveiled at a press conference during the Fruit Attraction fair in Madrid; Kissabel Rouge, Kissabel Jaune and Kissabel Orange to undergo in-market commercial tests in Europe that season; Ifored, the consortium of producers behind the range, aiming to produce the apples in 13 countries within five years; its chairman Bruno Essner calling the launch the latest step in a 20-year programme; the apples first developed in France; International Fruit Obtention the holder of the rights; Kissabel Rouge "a deep red fruit with red and white flesh, full flavour and notes of berry".
  5. The impact of Mendelian genetics on the breeding of apple and sweet cherry (in German), H. Flachowsky, O. F. Emeriewen, M. Schuster, A. Peil, J. Lempe and T. Wöhner, Julius Kühn-Institut; Journal für Kulturpflanzen 74 (11–12): 242–256, 2022. Supports: most red-fleshed varieties insufficient in taste for marketing; in newer varieties such as Kissabel the taste already better; whether and how they succeed in the market "wird die Zukunft zeigen" (the future will show).

All 201 varieties from France