Author Topic: Poncirus fruit comparison  (Read 10807 times)

SoCal2warm

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Re: Poncirus fruit comparison
« Reply #25 on: February 16, 2020, 06:29:09 PM »
When I visited (fellow member of this forum) Jim VH, he said he wanted me to try his poncirus plant. He said he had originally grown the plant from seed, and he believed it was special, that the inside of the fruits did not have any bad flavors. He kept insisting I just bite into the fruit.
I initially thought he might be playing a prank on me, get me to bite down and then be stuck with a terrible flavor in my mouth that wouldn't go away.
I cautiously took a little nibble, and then a bigger bite. It did not have any bad or bitter flavors. No poncirus off flavors.
Now it certainly wasn't good fruit quality, but it didn't have anything about it that could really be described as bad. It had a sort of pine-like flavor.
Jim VH believes this could be a special seedling. The plant is about 4 feet tall. (in Vancouver, WA, right across the bridge from Portland)

Now in complete fairness, I've never actually tasted a poncirus fruit before, but I have tasted a few poncirus hybrids (TaiTri, Glen citrangedin), so I have a good idea what the nasty flavor is like.

At least from my personal perspective, and experience eating it, I completely agree with him that his "special" poncirus plant doesn't seem to have any bad flavor, and is edible. Not sweet, mostly insipid and dry, but no characteristic poncirus bad flavor that I can discern.
Jim said the outer rind has some bad poncirus flavor though, just not the inside. The plant certainly looked just like any other poncirus I had seen, more like Flying Dragon. The plant itself did not look anything like a hybrid.

Till

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Re: Poncirus fruit comparison
« Reply #26 on: February 18, 2020, 04:30:05 AM »
Interesting!

The Poncirus types I tasted were always very aromatic. Lemonade of all types (after one night, without the oils...) tasted orangelike not so much lemonlike with strong flavor even after delusion with approximately 6-8 parts of water.

I found it interesting that the sugar content of Ilya11s samples is so different. When I look into Japanese gen bank NIAS (https://www.gene.affrc.go.jp/databases-plant_search_en.php), I find high sugar content in many Poncirus types.

I am asking myself why Poncirus+ has such a small amount of sticky oils. Is it perhaps heterozygous in that respect, I mean it has only one active gene producing the oil? If so we could totally breed it out by selfing. Has somebody grown Poncirus+ seedlings to maturity?
« Last Edit: February 18, 2020, 04:36:40 AM by Till »

mikkel

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Re: Poncirus fruit comparison
« Reply #27 on: February 18, 2020, 04:44:32 AM »
No poncirus off flavors.
.... It had a sort of pine-like flavor.

For sure it is a matter of personal preferences but to me the pine-like flavour is also an off flavour.
To my impression this pine-like flavour is even more present in many F1 hybrids. At least the ones I tested.

Ilya11

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Re: Poncirus fruit comparison
« Reply #28 on: February 18, 2020, 09:32:20 AM »
Has somebody grown Poncirus+ seedlings to maturity?
As far as I know nobody tried this.
In the same region (South Cost of Crimea) one friend of mine has found another 'edible' clone that people growing it call 'bergamote' and use to flavour tea.
I also believe that high summer heat and harvest of fully ripened fruits greatly influence poncirus taste.
Best regards,
                       Ilya

mikkel

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Re: Poncirus fruit comparison
« Reply #29 on: February 18, 2020, 11:01:38 AM »


I also believe that high summer heat and harvest of fully ripened fruits greatly influence poncirus taste.

My feeling is that the taste is also less bitter when the fruit is older. The fruits I tested, which were on the verge of edibility, were often less bitter.
I think that's why Ellerhoop was better when I found the first fruit. Fresh fruits from Ellerhoop turned out to be bitter, at least for my family and Till :)
The resin content of poncirus might be another story though.

jim VH

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Re: Poncirus fruit comparison
« Reply #30 on: February 18, 2020, 12:32:20 PM »
Actually, the original Flying Dragon seedling came from One Green World nursery in Oregon; the seedlings I gave SoCal were grown from the fruit of this tree, just to the left of the small window.


Planted in 2007, it's about 8-9 feet tall.   Interestingly-or not- the top third of the tree has become thornless, while the bottom 2/3 is wicked curved thorns.

Taste is subjective. I tend to describe mine as tasting like Vicks medicated lemon cough drops, but pine is probably close enough to menthol as to be interchangeable.  Either way, the powerful lemon flavor is by far the dominant one.   As Socal reports, I detect no bitterness, unlike my Dunstan citrumelo, which is just plain nasty.  It's quite sour.

 I actually enjoy the flavor, though I wouldn't eat a lot straight from the plant , unless you need to wake up in the morning.  It does have it's uses, however.  My nephews make a killer mixed drink from the juice, and I find that adding the strained juice of a dozen  or so fruits per gallon of my apple-quince sauce enhances the flavor in a good way.

Given all I've read about how awful trifoliate flavor was, I was wondering if it was special, but after reading the above posts, it doesn't seem to be unique in any way.  It appears that there is a vast continuum of edibility between seedlings; mine possibly lies towards the upper end of the edibility range.

There's quite a range of fruit sizes; the larger ones are full of seeds but some of the smallest ones are seedless, or nearly so.  Next fall crop I can do a sediment test like some of the above posters and see how the juice compares.  I can also measure Brix and acid levels and post them.

mikkel

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Re: Poncirus fruit comparison
« Reply #31 on: February 18, 2020, 01:12:51 PM »
Your Poncirus sounds very interesting Jim. Please post about it when you have fruits.
Thanks!

Ilya11

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Re: Poncirus fruit comparison
« Reply #32 on: February 18, 2020, 06:42:22 PM »
Jim_VH,  I also have one FD plant growing similarly upright.
Its taste is much better than that of a common poncirus, but fruits are much smaller. It also has  not more than 10  seeds per fruit, in seasons with cold spring they are mostly seedless.
Best regards,
                       Ilya

jim VH

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Re: Poncirus fruit comparison
« Reply #33 on: February 19, 2020, 11:07:37 AM »
Ilya,

My informal observation while cutting 'em up for juice is that fruit size and seed count are correlated.  The more seeds, the larger the fruit, which kinda makes sense.  The fruit from mine range from about 3 to 4 cm and very seedy to perhaps 1.5 cm and few or no seeds.  Next fall I'll arrange a few along a ruler to display the range, then cut them open to show the seed content, as in the photos from the posters above.

Cold springs tend to keep the pollinators at home, which may explain the fewer seeds.  The flowers are not very attractive to bees- I've never seen a honeybee on them, unlike the other citrus.  I'm not sure what pollinates; Possibly ants, which seem to collect nectar from the blooms.

I suspect part of the reason mine is so upright is because I prune it severely to keep it confined to the narrow space between the house and the walkway in front.  Elsewise I'd be gored by the thorns when I go by.  That probably forces it upwards.

Ilya11

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Re: Poncirus fruit comparison
« Reply #34 on: February 19, 2020, 01:34:45 PM »
I also suspect the absence of pollinators as an explanation for the absence of seeds. But strangely enough the nearby regular poncirus is giving always the fruits cracking from seeds.
What is a spectacular shrub to the left of  your FD. Some kind of Rhaphiolepsis?
Best regards,
                       Ilya

Bomand

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Re: Poncirus fruit comparison
« Reply #35 on: February 20, 2020, 09:32:16 AM »
When you keep a tree pruned sometimes you remove the fruiting wood. If this is done you might get very few bloom, few fruit and without seed..........

jim VH

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Re: Poncirus fruit comparison
« Reply #36 on: February 20, 2020, 11:08:02 AM »
Hi Ilya,

The small shrub to the left of the FD is a Myrtus Ugni, AKA Ugni Molina, AKA Chilean Guava. 
I suspect you meant the large shrub to the right.  It is a Louis Edmund Manzanita.  Species name is Arctostaphylos.

Off topic horticultural note: Manzanitas are native to western North America, ranging from Southern British Columbia south down the coast to California, then east to Texas.  Very drought tolerant, with many cultivars.  Related to the much larger Madrone tree- species name Arbutis- a native of the coast of British Columbia , Washington, Oregon and northern California.  Both species have smooth colorful bark and evergreen leaves.

Bomand, I hear you, but my plant is more like an espalier, severely pruned to a narrow shape in the front and back, but allowed to grow on the sides.  Plenty of blooms,fruit of all sizes and seedinesses.  There is something in what you say, however.  I've noticed fruit size appears to be stratified in size from top to bottom, with the largest fruit on the top and the smallest on the bottom.  Fruit size also appears to be getting larger year over year as the tree grows.


Jibro

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Re: Poncirus fruit comparison
« Reply #37 on: September 01, 2020, 04:57:57 AM »

 Jiri in the Czech Republic tested several varieties of Poncirus last autumn. Here is the website:
http://citrusy.info/test-5-ruznych-trifoliat-s-pozivatelnymi-plody/
english translation: https://translate.google.de/translate?hl=de&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fcitrusy.info%2Ftest-5-ruznych-trifoliat-s-pozivatelnymi-plody%2F

I was also sent some fruits. And I can confirm his results.

I have some new information, I have grafted 4 different poncirus from my test on to one poncirus rootstock in December 2019 (indoor), Flying Dragon "VS" had only 3 flowers, I cross polinated them with Citrumelo 5* and surprisingly one fruit was fully ripen in August 20.



I have tried taste right after picking fruit, so no influence from storage period and taste was once again good. I was able to eat pulp without any terrible aftertaste, taste was less sour than lemon, Brix 8° some bitternes but nothing stick on teeth.

Fruit had only 6 fully developed seeds with normal size, 6 smaller and 21 was undeveloped, flat. They are already in the substrate and I will look for hybrid with citrumelo...


This is third year I have tested this  Flying Dragon "VS" and I believe it has better taste than ordinary trifoliate and this is not influenced by growing condition or heat but most likely by genetics.
We have unusually cold and rainy weather this summer and the taste is still less sour than fruit from mother plant growing in warmer locality last year.



More detailed photos are in my original article below tittle: Aktualizace srpen 2020, you can translate it if you open it with Google Chrome browser, right click and "Translate to"
http://citrusy.info/test-5-ruznych-trifoliat-s-pozivatelnymi-plody/

Ilya11

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Re: Poncirus fruit comparison
« Reply #38 on: September 01, 2020, 01:02:11 PM »
Jiri, a presence of underdeveloped seeds is probably a good sign of zygotic nature of this variety.
Have you also tried to germinated them? In some cases, liberated from testa they are able to give seedlings.
Best regards,
                       Ilya

Jibro

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Re: Poncirus fruit comparison
« Reply #39 on: September 01, 2020, 03:04:37 PM »
I am not sure about zygotic nature, seeds were fully developed in last two years and seedlings from previous years looks also uniform with only few abnormal. Is it possible that high number of undeveloped seeds this year was caused by unusual growing condition: indoors during winter months with low light and low humidity, with stable temperature around 20°C?

I planted all the seeds, I've only put the 6 big seeds into separate container...so we will see.

Seeds - 2018



Seeds - 2019



Seedlings - 2018 fruit



jim VH

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Re: Poncirus fruit comparison
« Reply #40 on: October 29, 2020, 11:25:50 AM »
As requested last spring, here are a few of the observations from this years crop of 'Dragonballs'

Fruit on the tree about early October:



Enough ripe fruit to flavor a batch of Apple quince sauce were then picked up off the ground and cut open alongside a ruler.  These are typical.  The seed count is relatively low, some are even seedless.  The largest one I've found ( not shown here) was about seven cm-somewhat less than 3 inches.



The juice was then hand squeezed :




Then diluted about 3 or 4 to one:



Then allowed to sit for twelve hours to settle the solids:



It was then boiled to kill yeast and vinegar bacteria, then added to the sauce of seven quinces:



combined with an equal amount of applesauce and canned:



Producing about 3 quarts ( somewhat less than three liters) for those who like this sort of thing:



I'm the one on the right.

Jibro

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Re: Poncirus fruit comparison
« Reply #41 on: December 06, 2020, 05:27:25 AM »
  The largest one I've found ( not shown here) was about seven cm-somewhat less than 3 inches.

7 cm is really impressive for poncirus fruit, some are even seedless, you have really something special. Largest poncirus fruit that I found so far had 6cm, these big fruits are significantly better for processing and culinary use...

Zitrusgaertner

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Re: Poncirus fruit comparison
« Reply #42 on: December 07, 2020, 08:54:12 AM »
Jiri, a presence of underdeveloped seeds is probably a good sign of zygotic nature of this variety.
Have you also tried to germinated them? In some cases, liberated from testa they are able to give seedlings.

Ilya, will it be of any favour to remove the tegmen aswell? I know it is a delicate work to do so.

Robert

Ilya11

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Re: Poncirus fruit comparison
« Reply #43 on: December 07, 2020, 09:15:45 AM »
Robert, for already germinated seeds removal of this internal envelope is doing no harm, but I have seen some molding when it is inadvertently removed together  with testa.
Could be just a problem of scratching damage.
Best regards,
                       Ilya

jim VH

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Re: Poncirus fruit comparison
« Reply #44 on: December 07, 2020, 11:02:49 AM »
Jibro,
That 7cm fruit was a real outlier; the 4-5cm fruits shown in the photo are more typical, with quite a scattering of smaller ones.  I wish I'd taken a picture of the big one.
I have an apple tree called Spartan that does something similar.  One year I got an apple  that weighed very nearly a  pound, whereas 2-3 fruit per pound is more typical.  Why that happens is a mystery to me.

The seedless ones tend to be the small one, though I did get a couple largeish ones that were seedless.



Jibro

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Re: Poncirus fruit comparison
« Reply #45 on: December 07, 2020, 01:20:34 PM »
Thanks Jim for clarification, even if only one fruit was that big, it still shows the great potential that poncirus have for improving fruit quality. I think if someone crazy enough  ;) will try to grow poncirus as fruit tree with a lot of fertilization, pruning and fruit thinning, fruit size may increase even further...
Btw I grow Spartan apple too it was very popular variety in the past here and I still like the taste.

bussone

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Re: Poncirus fruit comparison
« Reply #46 on: January 29, 2023, 09:58:08 AM »
Jibro,
That 7cm fruit was a real outlier; the 4-5cm fruits shown in the photo are more typical, with quite a scattering of smaller ones.  I wish I'd taken a picture of the big one.
I have an apple tree called Spartan that does something similar.  One year I got an apple  that weighed very nearly a  pound, whereas 2-3 fruit per pound is more typical.  Why that happens is a mystery to me.

The seedless ones tend to be the small one, though I did get a couple largeish ones that were seedless.

Any updates from this tree?

jim VH

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Re: Poncirus fruit comparison
« Reply #47 on: January 30, 2023, 11:25:33 AM »
Hi Bussone

No, nothing particularly new.  The 2021 harvest was about the same as earlier ones, but with no 7 cm mega-fruit; the largest one was about 5.8 cm.  Here's the image for that:

  There really wasn't much of a 2022 harvest last fall, probably due to an extremely cold and wet spring/early summer; it rained almost nonstop until July 5th.  This resulted in a late bloom and very few pollinators; only a couple dozen fruit resulted.  This effected my other citrus adversely as well.  About the only interesting thing on the tree were a couple of rather gnarly fruit, discussed on another thread.  This could be caused by insect damage, or fungus.  Here's the picture:


The three-lobed fruit only had two seeds, which I planted for kicks, hoping, perhaps for a weird looking plant.  The single sprout was rather ordinary, however.

   A large number of the upper branches are still thornless.  It might be interesting to get some Dip-N-Grow and take some cuttings of said thornless branches and see if the thornlessness breed true.