Apple Purple Early Apple

Origin of the variety is unknown. Introduced to Minusinsk, Siberia, from Northern China by M. G. Nikiforov in 1892. It was widely cultivated in Siberian and Far Eastern gardens. Used by Siberian breeders as a source of winter hardiness in breeding programs. Considered the main seedling rootstock in Siberia. Used as a winter-hardy scaffold-forming rootstock. Approved for cultivation in the West Siberian and East Siberian regions since 1947. Not found in new plantings.

Trees are vigorous, with wide-oval crowns formed by strong scaffold branches extending from the trunk at acute, straight angles, with numerous buds and fruiting spurs.

Shoots are brownish-red, without pubescence. Leaves are medium-sized, broadly egg-shaped with a rounded base and long, broad tip, smooth, glossy, dark green, with serrated-margined edges, and glabrous on the underside. Petioles are short and slender, stipules are small and sickle-shaped.

Fruits are extremely small (8-10 g), flat and flat-round in shape, dark red. Peduncles are thin and long. Calyx falls off. Receptacle is broad and smooth.

Flesh is yellow with red veins, firm, juicy, sour, bitter, and of poor flavor. Chemical composition of the fruit: total sugars — 12.8% (9.1-16.6), titratable acids — 2.47% (0.68-3.47), tannins — 554 mg/100g (360-1245), ascorbic acid — 28.0 mg/100g (12.5-42.7), P-active compounds — 866 mg/100g (644-1652), pectic substances — 7.69% on dry weight.

Harvesting begins in the first half of September, storage life up to 30 days. Widely used in winemaking.

Begins fruiting in the third year. High yield, irregular. High winter hardiness. Sensitive to scab.

Advantages of the variety: high winter hardiness and early fruiting, high yield.

Disadvantages of the variety: extremely small fruits of poor flavor, sensitive to scab.

Widely used by Siberian breeders as a base form in breeding for winter hardiness and early fruiting. Varieties such as Gornaltayskoe, Pepinka Altayskaya, Altayskii Golubok, Raneika Yermolaeva, Ulan-Udinskoe, Komsomolec Buryatiya, and others were developed using this variety.