Kiwifruit breeding studies have been started in Atatürk Horticulture Central Research Institute in 2008 by Viticulture Department .
One of the cutivar candidate which selected from kiwifruit breeding program registered after two years registeraton process in March 2018. The first kiwifruit cultivar of our country was registered under the name "İlkaltın".
The most important characterisitics of the first kiwifruit cultivar is that it has yellow fruit flesh. Also around the core it has a slight orange color.
The core bedding color is dark yellow with a slight orange color in the center.
It is an early cultivar and the fruit skin has a little hairy. This is also an important characteristic of cultivar because especially children dont like hairy fruits.
Fruits are medium sized (average 87 g), fruit-shaped rectangular.
This cultivar yield is more than Hayward cultivar which is the most common kiwifruit cultivar. Average yield is 60 kg/vine. Cold storage period is 3-4 months.
Kiwifruit breeding studies under the leadership of Dr. Kemal A. Kahraman are continuing by the Institute's Viticulture Department. Evaluation of new cultivar candidates are still continue in Institute.
Also, cold storage performance of candidates have been studied with another project in Atatürk Horticulture Central Research Institute.
In the near future new kiwifruit cultivars will be added to the agriculture of our country.
