Sunburst is an attractive yellow-skinned apple with a pink hue which, in well coloured fruit, gives it an orange appearance. The pale white-yellow flesh is also tinged with pink to a greater of lesser degree. The light, crisp flesh is juicy and has a very good level of sweetness, while the flavour is interesting and pronounced, said to variously resemble marmalade or tropical fruit.
Sunburst is an early mid-season variety and has a medium-sized and a conical shape.
For consumers, Sunburst is a lovely variety with a wonderful open-crisp texture and a delightful flavour when at its best. Apples with such an open texture can suffer from softness if left too long in the fruit bowl: eat when fresh!
Good Fruit Guide Rating: *****
Names: Sunburst; Malling Sunburst
Origin: Sunburst was bred by NIAB EMR in East Malling, Kent, UK. It is the result of a conventional cross between Gala, Falstaff and the purple-fleshed Pink Pearl at NIAB EMR in 2003, with final selection in 2006. Pink Pearl is derived from a pink-fleshed wild species called Niedzwetzky’s apple, native to Central Asia. Development of the variety was unusually fast with the first fruit hitting the supermarket shelves in 2017, only 14 years from the first cross. Market development is by Scion Fruits Ltd (a joint venture between fruit supplier Richard Hochfeld Ltd and Frank P Matthews nursery).
Grown in: UK. By 2024, it is expected that 200,000 trees will have been planted in Europe.
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