Patent Application
20110107475
Olea europaea
‘ASKAL’
The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of an olive tree, botanically described as Olea europaea L. of the Oleaceae family, and hereinafter referred to by the variety denomination ‘ASKAL’.
The new Olea europaea ‘ASKAL’ is a product of a controlled breeding program conducted by the inventors, Shimon Lavee, Benjamin Avidan and Yair Manni, in Bet Dagan, Israel. The objective of the breeding program was to develop a new Olea europaea variety with a vigorous growth habit; high fruit yield; resistance to Spilocaea oleagina (peacock eye leaf disease); and production of mature fruit with good eating quality.
The new Olea europaea ‘ASKAL’ originated from a cross made by the inventors in 1990 in Bet Dagan, Israel. The female or seed parent is the Olea europaea ‘MANZANILLO’ (unpatented), and the male or pollen parent is the Olea europaea variety ‘BARNEA’ (unpatented). The new Olea europaea ‘ASKAL’ was discovered from the progeny of the stated cross in 1993 and selected in 1994 by the inventors in a controlled environment in Bet Dagan, Israel.
Asexual propagation of the new Olea variety by rooting of vegetative cuttings was first performed in the spring of 1995 in Bet Dagan, Israel, and has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for the new variety are firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction. The new variety reproduces true to type.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be unique characteristics of ‘ASKAL’ which in combination distinguish this olive tree as a new and distinct variety:
1. medium-sized tree with vigorous growth habit;
2. high fruit yield;
3. resistance to Spilocaea oleagina; and;
4. production of mature fruit with average commercial oil content (about 23.5% on fresh weight basis under irrigation), a high oleic acid content (about 72%), good polyphenol content (about 233 mg/kg), and good eating quality with an organoleptic character that is of well-balanced fruity-grassy taste.
In comparison to the unpatented, parental varieties, Olea europaea ‘MANZANILLO’ and ‘BARNEA’, the new Olea europaea ‘ASKAL’ differs primarily in the traits listed in Table 1.
Of the many commercial varieties known to the present inventors, the most similar in comparison to the Olea europaea ‘ASKAL’ is the unpatented, parental variety, Olea europaea ‘BARNEA’. In addition to the traits described in the foregoing Table 1, ‘ASKAL’ differs from ‘BARENA’ in the following traits described in Table 2:
The accompanying photographs illustrate the overall appearance of the new Olea europaea ‘ASKAL’ showing the colors as true as is reasonably possible with colored reproductions of this type. Colors in the photographs may differ slightly from the color values cited in the detailed botanical description, which accurately describe the color of ‘ASKAL’.
The new Olea europaea ‘ASKAL’ has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype of the new variety may vary with variations in environment such as temperature, light intensity, and day length without any change in the genotype of the olive tree.
The aforementioned photographs, together with the following observations, measurements and values describe trees of ‘ASKAL’ as grown in the olive farm in Bet Dagan, Israel, under conditions which closely approximate those generally used in commercial practice in Israel. Trees of ‘ASKAL’ are planted at a distance of 4×7 meters in sandy red loam soil at an elevation of about 30 meters above sea level. Trees of ‘ASKAL’ are irrigated by drip system (about 4 liters per hour) during the summer. Average annual rainfall is about 500 mm, with an average 450 mm of rainfall in winter. NPK fertilization (9:3:9.50 ppm) is administered through the drip system. Mean diurnal minimum temperature in January is 7.2° C., and mean diurnal maximum temperature in July is 30.8° C.
Unless otherwise stated, the detailed botanical description includes observations, measurements and values based on four year old ‘ASKAL’ trees grown in the olive farm in Bet Dagan, Israel from 2004 to 2007. Quantitative data are expressed as an average of measurements taken from 10 trees of ‘ASKAL’. The measurements of any individual tree, or any group of trees, of the new variety may vary from the stated average.
Color references are made to The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart (R.H.S.), 1986 edition, except where general colors of ordinary significance are used. Color values were taken under conditions of full sunlight in Bet Dagan, Israel.
All of the trees of ‘ASKAL’, insofar as they have been observed, have been identical in all the characteristics described below.
