Yellow kiwi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Yellow kiwi |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Species | Actinidia chinensis var. chinensis |
| Marketing names | Kiwi Gold |
| Origin | New Zealand |
The yellow kiwi or golden kiwifruit is a special type of kiwi fruit. It's also known as Kiwi Gold. This fruit was created by a company called Zespri International Ltd. While it looks similar, the yellow kiwi is a different kind of plant (Actinidia chinensis) than the common green kiwi (Actinidia deliciosa).
Contents
How Yellow Kiwi Was Created
In 1977, plant experts from Zespri in New Zealand brought seeds of a special kiwi plant (A. chinensis) from China. They planted these seeds in the Bay of Plenty, a region where green kiwis had grown for many years. After carefully choosing the best plants, they found a new type in 1992. This new kiwi had yellow, sweet fruit. They named this special type Hort-16A.
Selling Yellow Kiwi Around the World
Zespri started selling the yellow kiwi in Japan in 1998. By the year 2000, it was also available in Europe.
What Makes Yellow Kiwi Special
The yellow kiwi has some unique features compared to the green kiwi. Its skin is thinner, smoother, and not as rough. The fruit itself is softer and has a lovely yellowish color. Many people find the yellow kiwi to be sweeter than the green one.
In terms of size, yellow kiwis are usually between 5 and 8 centimeters long. This is similar in size to the green kiwi fruit.
Growing Yellow Kiwi Plants
Growing yellow kiwi plants is a bit harder than growing green ones. This is mainly because yellow kiwi plants can easily get a plant sickness called canker. This sickness is caused by a type of bacteria.
The first type of yellow kiwi, Hort16A (also known as ZespriGold), had big problems with this sickness in New Zealand between 2010 and 2013. In fact, almost half of New Zealand's yellow kiwi plants were lost in 2012 due to this disease. Because of this, Zespri worked to find a new type of yellow kiwi. They discovered a new variety called Zesy002, which was much stronger and could resist the sickness. This new type is now sold as SunGold.
Different Types of Yellow Kiwi
There are several different types, or cultivars, of yellow kiwi:
- A-19 or Enza Gold: This type is very similar to the green kiwi in how it tastes and looks.
- Hort16A or Zespri Gold: This was the very first type of yellow kiwi that became popular.
- JB Gold or Kiwi Kiss: These plants grow a lot of fruit, and the kiwis are quite large.
- Jintao or Jin Gold: This type also produces a lot of fruit. It's smaller than Hort16A and originally came from China.
- Soreli: This type produces many fruits and comes from Italy.
- SunGold: This is a newer type developed by Zespri. It is related to Zespri Gold but is stronger against plant sickness.
Images for kids
-
A friendly robot
