Gala (apple)

Infobox Cultivar | name ="Malus domestica" 'Gala'

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image_width = 250px
hybrid = 'Kidd's Orange Red' × 'Golden Delicious'
cultivar = 'Gala'
origin = flagicon|New Zealand New Zealand, 1920s

Gala is a cultivar of apple with a mild and sweet flavor.

Appearance and flavor

Gala apples are small and are usually red with a portion being greenish or yellow-green, vertically striped. Gala apples are fairly resistant to bruising and are sweet, grainy, with a mild flavor and a thinner skin than most apples. They are also considered to be a very soft eating apple due to their lack of crispiness, well-suited for denture wearers. Quality indices include firmness, crispness, and a lack of mealiness.

History

Gala apples were developed in New Zealand in the 1920s by orchardist J.H. Kidd. They are a cross between a Golden Delicious and a Kidd's Orange Red. Many sports of Gala have been selected, mostly for increased red color, including the popular Royal Gala.

Season

Gala apples are grown from September through June, but, like most apples, are available almost all year through the use of cold storage and controlled atmosphere storage. Australian Gala are available from late January. California fruit is available until October.

Royal Gala cultivar

Royal Gala is a cultivar resulting from a sport of the Gala apple in the 1970s. It is a pink-red dessert apple and is therefore usually eaten fresh. Royal Galas are usually harvested in early to late February.

Storage

The optimum temperature for storing apples is between -1° and 1°C (30 to 34°F), and the optimum relative humidity is 90 to 95%. Like many fruit, ethylene gas can speed ripening and spoilage and reduce firmness. [http://postharvest.ucdavis.edu/Produce/Producefacts/Fruit/apple_gala.shtml]

External links

* [http://www.nyapplecountry.com/gala.htm New York Apple Association description]