Citrus Cultivars

Citrus varieties developed at the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, an agricultural and natural resource research program of the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), are licensed by the Florida Foundation Seed Producers, Inc.  If your company is interested in licensing citrus varieties, please contact the Florida Foundation Seed Producers, Inc.

Sugar Belle® 'LB8-9' (US Patent PP21,356)
Mandarin Hybrid

Sugar Belle® ‘LB8-9’ was developed by scientists at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Citrus Research and Education Center.  Fruit of Sugar Belle® ‘LB8-9’ resembles that of ‘Minneola’ tangelo in shape, but maturing 4-6 weeks before that of ‘Mineola’, providing Sugar Belle® ‘LB8-9’ growers and packers with a distinct market advantage, particularly in the holiday season gift market.

The color and flavor of fruit of Sugar Belle® ‘LB8-9’ equals or exceeds that of ‘Minneola’.  Trees of Sugar Belle® ‘LB8-9’ are very vigorous and will require horticultural manipulation to control size and cropping.  Another valuable characteristic of Sugar Belle® ‘LB8-9’ is that its foliage and fruit have much greater tolerance of Alternaria than that of 'Minneola', minimizing fungicide applications.

Taste panels have shown that there is better acceptance of juice from Sugar Belle® ‘LB8-9’ than that of ‘Minneola’ from fruit stored for 8 weeks.  Panelists have characterized Sugar Belle® ‘LB8-9’ as having a rich flavor.  Fruit of Sugar Belle® ‘LB8-9’ had higher Brix (14.2) and acid (1.12) than ‘Minneola’ or ‘Sunburst’, both having a Brix and acid lower than 11.7 and 0.86, respectively.   Particularly, sucrose concentration was higher in Sugar Belle® ‘LB8-9’ (7.14 g/100ml) than ‘Minneola’ (5.29 g/100ml) or ‘Sunburst’ (6.09 g/100ml).  Vitamin C concentration was 42.43 mg/100ml for Sugar Belle® ‘LB8-9’ which was considerably higher than ‘Minneola’ (23.27 mg/100ml) or ‘Sunburst’ (26.25 mg/100ml). 

In consumer acceptance studies performed by a commercial polling company in three different U.S. markets, Sugar Belle® ‘LB8-9’ has been shown to have excellent potential as a new fresh fruit for the consumer.  Sugar Belle® ‘LB8-9’ fruit were compared with ‘Dancy’ tangerine, ‘Minneola’ tangelo, seedless Spanish Clementine, and two other advanced selections from the UF/IFAS citrus breeding program.  Sugar Belle® ‘LB8-9’ was selected as the best fruit in overall appearance (7.8 on a 9-point scale), overall flavor (7.0 on a 9-point scale), deemed to be just the right color of fruit and fruit flesh, 73% of the respondents said the acidity was “just right”, 82% the size of the fruit was “just right”, and 56% said they were extremely/very likely to buy this fruit product.

A plant patent for Sugar Belle® ‘LB8-9’ has been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, having the U.S. patent number PP21,356.

For more information about this mandarin hybrid, including a description and trial data, please click here.

News
Where can you obtain Sugar Belle™ 'LB8-9'?

USA:   FFSP has granted an exclusive license for the Sugar Belle® ‘LB8-9’ mandarin hybrid to the New Varieties Development and Management Corporation (NVDMC).  All nurseries, growers, and packers of Sugar Belle® ‘LB8-9’ are required to be sub-licensed by NVDMC.  All parties interested in propagating, growing, and/or marketing fruit of Sugar Belle® ‘LB8-9’ should contact Peter Chaires, Executive Director of NVDMC (Phone:  863-682-0151, Email:  pchaires@flcitruspackers.org).

Republic of South Africa:  FFSP has granted an exclusive license for the Sugar Belle® ‘LB8-9’ mandarin hybrid to Ekland Marketing Company of California, Inc. (EMCO/CAL).  All interested parties are encouraged to contact EMCO/CAL by clicking here.

License Availability: Please contact FFSP if you or your company are interested in obtaining an exclusive license for the Sugar Belle® ‘LB8-9’ within a territory that has not already been exclusively licensed by FFSP.


Valquarius™ 'SF14W-62' (US Patent PP21,535)
Sweet Orange

Valquarius™ ‘SF14W-62’ (U.S. Patent Pending) is a sweet orange cultivar developed by scientists at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences’, Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred, Florida, and has been released under the University of Florida’s Citrus Fast Track Release Option.  Valquarius™ ‘SF14W-62’ is a variety targeted for the processing industry, as it has a significantly earlier fruit maturation date than standard ‘Valencia’, which will provide the processing industry with earlier blending opportunities with ‘Hamlin’ or ‘Midsweet’ to improve the flavor and color of not-from-concentrate juice.  With a fruit maturation date roughly 4-8 weeks earlier than that of standard ‘Valencia’, Valquarius™ ‘SF14W-62’ also allows for grade A juice recovery and no economic loss in the event of a mid-January or later freeze-mandated harvest.

Trees of Valquarius™ ‘SF14W-62’ are upright and vigorous, and have shown a tendency for alternate bearing.  Trees of Valquarius™ ‘SF14W-62’ are more thorny than most traditional ‘Valencia’ selections, especially on internal scaffold branches.  Thorns can be long, but are quite variable.  Trees tend to bear more terminal fruit, and as a result, the impacts of thorns on the harvest is minimal.  While fruit yield data for Valquarius™ ‘SF14W-62’ are somewhat limited, the original, first-generation tree yielded more than ten boxes of fruit as a ten year old tree.  Valquarius™ ‘SF14W-62’ appears to be at least as productive as standard ‘Valencia’.

Valquarius™ ‘SF14W-62’  has a maturity date very comparable to that of ‘Midsweet’, the currently preferred midseason processing cultivar in Florida.  Valquarius™ ‘SF14W-62’ has significantly better juice color than ‘Midsweet’, and has been favored over ‘Midsweet’ in preliminary sensory testing.  Valquarius™ ‘SF14W-62’, therefore, has excellent potential as a mid-season variety, which could be especially useful for blending with low-colored ‘Hamlin’ juice.

Where can you obtain Valquarius™ 'SF14W-62'?

USA:   FFSP has granted an exclusive license for the Valquarius™ 'SF14W-62' sweet orange to New Varieties Development and Management Corporation (NVDMC).  All nurseries and growers of Valquarius™ 'SF14W-62' are required to be sub-licensed by NVDMC.  All parties interested in propagating, growing, and/or marketing fruit of Valquarius™ 'SF14W-62' should contact Peter Chaires, Executive Director of NVDMC (Phone:  863-682-0151, Email:  pchaires@flcitruspackers.org).

License Availability: Please contact FFSP if you or your company are interested in obtaining an exclusive license for the Valquarius™ 'SF14W-62' sweet orange within a territory that has not already been exclusively licensed by FFSP.