The World of Apples

Apple varieties, Netherlands

Red Jonaprince

A dark red sport of Jonagold found at Weert in 1994; 4 per cent of Europe's apple crop in 2025/26

History

Red Jonaprince is a sport of Jonagold, found in 1994 as a whole tree in the orchard of the brothers Wil and Ton Princen at Weert, in the Netherlands1,2,3. According to a Dutch growers’ journal, it arose among trees of Jonagold Princen, an earlier sport of Jonagold found in 19873. Community plant variety rights, applied for in August 1995, were granted on 6 December 1999 under the denomination Red Jonaprince, and run until the end of 20294; a US plant patent was granted in November 19991.

The trade mark Red Prince, set up for the fruit at the end of 1999, belonged in 2012 to two marketing organisations, which alone sold under it; from 2006 growers were free to plant the variety, and fruit marketed by others was sold as Red Jonaprince3. A Dutch pomological table of 2012 gives Wilton’s and Red Prince as its brand names5, and the European Union’s marketing standard for apples lists both as trade marks8. The European crop was 21,000 tonnes in 2008, the first year it was counted separately in the European forecast, 29,000 tonnes in 2009 and an estimated 31,000 in 20113. By the European industry’s figures it made up 4 per cent of Europe’s apples in 2025/26, and 3 per cent of the forecast for 2026/276. In Germany’s 2022 orchard survey it covered 1,151 hectares in Lower Saxony, more than any variety listed there but Elstar, and 371 in Baden-Württemberg7.

The fruit

The patent sets out how it differs from Jonagold1. The skin is smooth and not greasy, and at picking about 98 per cent of it is covered with solid red1. The stalk is red whatever the colour of the fruit, and all the fruit colours alike at the same time1. The flesh is firmer than Jonagold’s, with a little more sugar and a little more acid1. Even the flower differs: at the end of flowering its receptacle is purple-red, where Jonagold’s is soft pink-red1. Its yield and its resistance to disease are like Jonagold’s1,3.

The fruit is fairly large, averaging 70–90 mm, and colours intensely and evenly dark red from an early stage, even without cold nights3. Its flesh is creamy white, fine-textured and juicy, with a sweet, rich flavour1,2. In the Netherlands it is picked at about the same time as Jonagold, around the third week of September, in two passes for an even colour; picking earlier is possible as far as colour goes but harms the taste3. At Brogdale, Kent, it reaches 10 per cent flowering on 10 May and is picked in mid-October2. It can be stored until the end of August3.

Growing

The tree grows fairly strongly at first and moderately later, with well-angled, near-horizontal branches; it is very productive, like Jonagold, and bears little in alternate years if its crop is regulated3. It is as susceptible to powdery mildew and canker as Jonagold3. It is triploid; Elstar, Gala, Granny Smith, Idared and the crab Golden Hornet pollinate it3.

Uses

Its fruit is suited to the fresh market1.

Where the sources disagree

  • Ripening. The patent says it is ready to pick four to five weeks before Jonagold, but its detailed description gives the same time as Jonagold, early September1; the Dutch account puts picking with Jonagold in the third week of September and warns against picking early3.
  • Stripes. The patent describes the skin as unstriped1; a Dutch pomological table gives a fairly dark red flush, striped to solid5.
  • Keeping. A full year after harvest according to the patent1; until the end of August according to the Dutch account3.

Family tree

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

Jonagold Red Jonaprince
Where Red Jonaprince came from. The lines lead to its parents: Jonagold (United States).

Sources

  1. Apple tree named Red Jonaprince (US Plant Patent 11,112), Wilhelmus J. F. A. Princen and Antonius F. M. J. Princen; Google Patents, 1999-11-02. Supports: filed 19 August 1997; "a naturally occurring mutation of a Jonagold tree", "discovered as a whole plant in the discoverers' orchard in Weert, The Netherlands in 1994"; propagated on M9 and MM106 with the same characteristics; compared with Jonagold, a smooth, non-greasy skin, no stripes, a red stalk whatever the fruit colour, about 98 percent red at picking, all fruit the same colour on the same day, a little more sugar, a little more sour and firmer flesh, a receptacle purple red rather than soft pink red at the end of flowering, a leaf stalk red up to the veins; "ready for picking four to five weeks earlier than Jonagold"; yield similar to Jonagold, annual and spur bearing, no russet, disease resistance similar to Jonagold; a medium, relatively hardy, moderately vigorous tree; fruit frustoconical, mostly wider than high, 7.5 to 8.5 cm broad; flesh creamy white, juicy, firm; time of maturity "Same as Jonagold, early September"; keeping quality "One full year immediately after harvest"; for the fresh fruit market.
  2. Red Jonaprince (accession 2000-116), National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, Kent (Defra). Supports: "A dark red flushed clone of Jonagold. Discovered in 1994 by Princen Bros, Weert, Netherlands. Fruits have fine-textured, juicy flesh with a sweet and good rich flavour."; parentage "Sport of Jonagold"; 10% flowering on 10 May and picking in mid-October at Brogdale.
  3. Red Jonaprince, the most planted mutant of Jonagold (in Dutch), Marijke van Ossenbruggen, Fruitteelt 13 (vol. 102), p. 11; copy at redjonaprince.nl, 2012-03-30. Supports: a dark red mutant of Jonagold, found in 1994 on the farm of the brothers Ton and Wil Princen at Weert in a selection of the mutant Jonagold Princen (found in 1987); the brand name (merknaam) Red Prince, set up at the end of 1999 with the variety's owner, owned by two marketing organisations that alone sell the fruit under it; growers free to plant Red Jonaprince from 2006, and fruit sold outside those organisations under the name Red Jonaprince; fairly large fruit, 70–90 mm, colouring intensely and evenly dark red at an early stage, even without cold nights; very firm, very tasty from a favourable sugar–acid ratio; long storage possible until the end of August; triploid, pollinated by Elstar, Gala, Granny Smith, Idared and the crab Golden Hornet; picking comparable with Jonagold, around the third week of September, in two passes for a uniform colour grade; picking earlier possible for colour but strongly advised against because it harms the taste; mildew and canker susceptibility like standard Jonagold; growth rather strong at first, later moderate, with favourable horizontal branch angles; little alternate bearing if the crop load is watched; growing characteristics mostly as standard Jonagold, very productive like Jonagold; one of the most planted Jonagold mutants; Germany the largest buyer of trees in Europe; European crop 21,000 t in 2008, the first year in the Prognos figures, 29,000 t in 2009 and an estimated 31,000 t in 2011.
  4. Community plant variety rights register, public search: Red Jonaprince, Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO). Supports: denomination Red Jonaprince (Malus domestica); applicant Wilton International B.V.; application 19950393 of 1 August 1995; grant 5555 of 6 December 1999; status granted, protection to 31/12/2029.
  5. Jonagold and Jonagold mutants (in Dutch), Pomospost, autumn 2012, pp. 8–10; Wageningen University and Research eDepot, 2012. Supports: the original Jonagold gone from commercial growing; the mutants better coloured than the original and sometimes earlier to ripen; only mutants in Dutch shops, chiefly Jonagored, Red Jonaprince, Jonagored Supra and Novajo; the mutants more deeply coloured and larger; table of the commonest mutants in the Netherlands and Belgium: original Jonagold green to green-yellow with a large orange-red, striped flush; Red Jonaprince "Tamelijk donkerrood, gestreepte tot gesloten blos" (fairly dark red, striped to solid flush), with Wilton's and Red Prince in the table's column of brand names (Merknaam).
  6. Industry Outlook 2026, Christopher Gerlach, U.S. Apple Association, 2026. Supports: Table 13, European apple production by select varieties (European industry figures): Red Jonaprince 4% of European production in 2025/26 and on the five-year average, 3% of the 2026/27 forecast.
  7. Growth and harvest: tree fruit 2022 (Fachserie 3, Reihe 3.2.1), table 3 (in German), Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis), 2023-01-09. Supports: table 3, the 2022 apple harvest by variety in the main growing states, with planted areas from the 2022 orchard survey (the variety listed as "Jonaprince"): 1,151 ha in Lower Saxony, where only Elstar (2,612 ha) among the varieties listed covered more, 371 ha in Baden-Württemberg and 247 ha in Hamburg.
  8. 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: the note that some listed varieties "may be marketed under names for which trademark protection has been sought or obtained in one or more countries", with "References to known trademarks" given in the fourth column "for information only"; Red Jonaprince, listed among the mutants of Jonagold, with the trade marks Wilton's and Red Prince.

All 57 varieties from Netherlands