South Coast Research and Extension Center

Cherimoya Tasting and Orchard Tour

The South Coast Research and Extension Center hosted visitors coming from all over Southern California attending the annual Cherimoya Tasting on December 17, 2019. Through a blind tasting, evaluators were asked to rate the (8) varieties using a basic one to five scale based on texture, flavor, and overall performance to do determine if there is any difference in rankings as a result of an earlier harvest.                             

The cherimoya collection at the South Coast REC contains various cultivars that are not widely available and sought after by avid fans of this fruit. The varieties that were evaluated included ‘Mc Pherson', ‘Ott', ‘Knight', ‘Loma', ‘Nata', ‘El Bumpo', and ‘Concha Lisa'.

Harvest and tasting were done early to collect fruit before the cold December nights, rain and winds hit in the later part of the month and early January when a lot of fruit is lost.

Following the tasting, attendees toured the orchard with volunteer docents learning about the various varieties and cultural practices after which the group was treated to a trip to the persimmon orchard for a quick harvest.

McPherson, a new addition to the tasting panel, was the clear winner this year with Concha Lisa rounding out the bottom three. Based on the compiled data, and with the exception of adding a new variety to the mix, the evaluation numbers were not that far off from tastings typically done in January. The top three varieties for this evaluation are listed below.

South Coast REC Dec 2019 Cherimoya Tasting Top Three Varieties
Rank	Texture	Flavor	Overall
1	McPherson	McPherson	McPherson
2	El Bumpo	Ott	Loma
3	Ott	Knight	El Bumpo

 

Thank you to everyone for supporting this event. A special kudos to our fabulous UCCE Master Gardener volunteers and Center staff for all their hard work.