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All about apples, pears, plums, and cherries - and orchards where they are grown

Zari apple

Malus domestica

Zari is a new variety developed in Belgium and aimed at commercial growers looking for a variety that will ripen in the early mid-season.  It is a very good looking apple, with a red-striped blush covering a yellow-green background and attractive speckled lenticels.

Zari has a very good flavour, reminiscent of Elstar and Delcorf (often known as Estivale).  The flesh is crisp, but fairly light.

Zari has quickly become one of our favorite mid-season apples in the Orange Pippin office.

USDA identification images for Zari

The identification paintings in the USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection span the years 1886 to 1942.

    Citation: U.S. Department of Agriculture Pomological Watercolor Collection. Rare and Special Collections, National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD 20705.

    Parents and other ancestors of this variety


    Visitor reviews

    • 07 Oct 2023 
      I first tried zari apples three years ago in a pack I bought at Sainsbury's. They are light, crisp, and juicy sweet - delicious. They are grown in Kent and I buy them whenever they are available.
    • 22 Oct 2020  ESSEX, United Kingdom
      No point complaining about sweetness. This is sweet, very juicy. Not as crisp as Jazz (but I tried in Oct), nor as pear drop flavoured as Jazz, but with a hint of cox flavour. Overall I prefer Estivale one of its parents but this is grown in UK which Estivale hardly is. Lovely desert apple to replace pudding!
    • 06 Oct 2018  ABERDEEN, United Kingdom
      I bought a few Zari apples and a few Norfolk Royal Russet apples on the same day - I had tasted neither before. It was a very cruel comparison! While the Norfolk Royal Russet was complex and aromatic and utterly delicious, the Zari apple just tasted generically sugary as if injected with glucose.
    • 08 Sep 2018  SURREY, United Kingdom
      Thank you, Belgium, for giving us this wonderful Apple variety.
    • 26 Nov 2016  (SELECT), United Kingdom
      Recently found these in our local Lidl, as an example of a local Kent product. Exceptionally nice.
    • 29 Sep 2016  NOTTINGHAM, United Kingdom
      This is my new favourite apple. Perfect balance of sweet and tart - very crisp and super juicy. They don't seem to have a long season - Sainsbury's stock them near me, but not for long.
    • 22 Sep 2016  United Kingdom
      What a pleasant surprise to find these BRITISH apples in sainsburys. Fed up seeing foreign apples everywhere and I refuse to buy them. Came across these Zari apples (never heard of them before) and they are delicious. Sweet and crisp bit like the old coxes we used to be able to buy. Coxes these days dont taste like coxes in years gone buy. If you see them grab them. You never know how long they may last in the shops!! LONG LIVE BRITISH APPLES. Thumbs down to foreign ones. Cheap and tasteless
    • 21 Nov 2015  SOMERSET, United Kingdom
      An apple that takes me back to the tree climbing and apple-picking of my childhood. Exceptionally juicy and both sweet and tart. A very good flavour which is enhanced by its crisp bite. My favourite apple at the moment but definitely one to be eaten fresh rather than stored.
    • 18 Oct 2014  WESTBURY LEIGH, United Kingdom
      Old fashioned apple taste, reminiscent of freshly picked orchard fruit. Fairly crisp although a tendency to go soft which can be overcome by keeping refrigerated. Good size and texture.

    Tree register

    Portugal

    Origins

    • Species: Malus domestica - Apple
    • Parentage: Delcorf x Elstar
    • Originates from: Belgium
    • Introduced: 2000
    • Developed by: Better3fruit

    Identification

    • Country of origin: Belgium
    • Period of origin: 2000
    • Fruit size: Large

    Using

    • Keeping (of fruit): 2-3 weeks
    • Flavour quality: Very good
    • Flavour style (apples): Sweet/Sharp
    • Cropping: Good
    • Food uses: Eating fresh
    • Food uses: Juice

    Growing

    • Gardening skill: Average
    • Flowering group: 4
    • Ploidy: Diploid
    • Vigour: Slightly large
    • Fruit bearing: Spur-bearer
    • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile

    Where to buy fresh fruit

    No orchards have registered as growing this variety. If you grow this and want to register please go to our Orchard Registration form.



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