Carmen®
As good (and early) as it gets
Carmen® is a Hass budsport hailing from Mexico. Carmen is an attractive early season Hass look-alike with the same flavour and postharvest quality as Hass. Carmen® is exclusively managed by Westfalia in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, and is internationally protected by USA Patent and Plant Breeders Rights.
Fruit Characteristics
| Season | Earlier than Hass |
| Yield | Good, consistent bearing |
| Appearance | Attractive black skin, Hass look-alike |
| Shape | Ovate - Obovate |
| Size | 200-285g |
| Flesh | Firm, yellow in colour |
| Flavour | Creamy, nutty taste |
| Post harvest fruit quality | Excellent |
Season of maturity
(for Westfalia Estate, South Africa)
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Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
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Carmen® |
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Fuerte |
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Hass |
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Ryan |
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o-o-s* |
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o-o-s* |
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* o-o-s: Out-of-season Carmen® crop
Carmen®-Hass fruit reaches picking maturity (77% moisture content) at least 2-4 weeks earlier than Hass. The out-of-season Carmen®-Hass fruit usually matured in the period November to January (for South Africa).
(Week at which moisture content levels of Carmen®-Hass and Hass fruit sampled from the same orchard reached 77% over the period 2006-2011)
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Week when 77% moisture was reached |
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Cultivar |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
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Hass |
15 |
13 |
16 |
14 |
18 |
14 |
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Carmen®-Hass |
14 |
13 |
14 |
12 |
14 |
10 |
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Advantage over Hass |
+1 |
0 |
+2 |
+2 |
+4 |
+4 |
Yield of Carmen®-Hass and Hass
The productivity of the Carmen®-Hass trees seems to be very similar to that of the Hass trees. The Carmen®-Hass cultivar seem to be a more consistent producer with less alternation in its bearing pattern as compared to Hass. The Carmen®-Hass cultivar is also a regular out-of-season bearer with out-of-season crops of up 50% of the size of the normal season crop recorded.
Data below was collected over 7 seasons at Westfalia Estate, South Africa; data presented as ton/ha (based on a spacing of 200 trees/ha). An out-of-season Carmen® crop is indicated as "OOS", while the normal annual crop is indicated as "N".
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2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
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N |
OOS |
N |
OOS |
N |
OOS |
N |
OOS |
N |
OOS |
N |
OOS |
N |
OOS |
Cum. |
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Carmen® |
17.6 |
1.7 |
17.6 |
1.4 |
23.4 |
6.9 |
19.8 |
4.8 |
27.5 |
0.0 |
15.2 |
7.5 |
35.2 |
1.1 |
179.68 |
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Hass |
14.3 |
0.0 |
23.5 |
0.0 |
17.0 |
0.0 |
48.3 |
1.0 |
22.7 |
2.7 |
39.7 |
0.0 |
18.1 |
0.0 |
187.25 |
Fruit Size of Carmen® -Hass and Hass
Carmen®-Hass fruit are on average one count size smaller than Hass fruit. The main count range for Carmen®-Hass is 14-20 or 14-22, whereas the main count range for Hass is distributed over the counts 14-18 or 12-18. The amount of fruit in the smaller count range of ≤count 24 is very similar between the two cultivars.
Fruit size of Carmen® and Hass expressed as counts according to a 4 kg carton as measured at Westfalia Estate.
