Romania's exotic fruits

Rich in vitamins, above the usual standard of the local fruits, resistant to variations in temperature and suitable for ecological cultivation since they have no pests, the exotic fruits have been gaining ground on Romanian territory.

I found out the story of several such sorts from Florin Stanica, a teacher of pomiculture with the Horticulture Faculty as part of the University of Agronomical Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Bucharest. The story begins in 1992, when a university team went to the University of Perugia in Italy, via a Tempus program, where they studied the kiwi, noticing its has development conditions which are similar to the peach tree. And that is how the idea occurred to pilot the cultivation in Ostrov, on the banks of the river Danube, where conditions are perfect for the peach tree, but also for vine growing.

Florin Stanica:

Easier said than done. In 1993, in spring, we had a cultivation, with the support of Ostrov IAS, of two kiwi hectares. Concurrently, from Italy, we brought more than hybrids of Actinidia Arguta, which is the Kiwi berry or baby kiwi, a species of kiwi which is much more resistant to freezing than the peach tree, so it can be cultivated even in the areas of the plumtree cultivation. Since 1993, practically, with the Faculty of Horticulture in Bucharest, among other activities, we have carried a survey on the possibility of acclimatization of the kiwi species. Because there are three species we are interested in, food-wise, the kiwi with trichome, familiar to everybody on the market, kiwi with yellow pulp and the kiwi which is frost-resistant. All along we have succeeded to see how to multiply the kiwi plants, to see what the cultivation technologies are and, through selection works, we succeeded to certify two Romanian sorts, the result of the Romanian-Italian cooperation, which were registered with the EU under the name of Vip Green and Vip Red, two sorts of frost-resistant kiwi, with green and red fruits.".

We found out that for almost 10 years now, selection works have been conducted as regards the hybrids between the kiwi with yellow pulp and the kiwi with green pulp, with four very interesting selections existing already, with big fruit, with special tasty qualities, with a great preservation capacity, likely to be homologated in the near future. Professor Florin Stanica once again.

"Kiwi can be cultivated in Romania. There is a rather limited area suitable for the cultivation of big-fruit kiwi, I 'm speaking about the areas favoring the cultivation of the peach tree, the southern and the western part of the county, but we also have quite generous possibilities for the cultivation of the resistant species, that is the baby kiwi or kiwi berry, which can be cultivated in almost all Romanian orchard areas. It takes a little bit of courage on the part of the cultivators."

« Simina » is another species recommended by professor Florin Stanica, for which homologation is in progress. It can be cultivated with no problem, there where winter temperature readings do not exceed 25 degrees below zero, with no special treatment needed.

"As I was in Italy, of course I found out about another cultivation, known as Asimina Triloba. In the year 2000 I also brought to Romania the first sorts of northern banana or "pawpaw", a plant originating from the eastern side of North America, so it s frost-resistant, it can resist to temperature readings of minus 25 degrees which yields some extraordinary fruit, of about the size of a mango, it just that they have brown seeds on the inside, double-filed. The pulp of the fruit is creamy, it can be served with the teaspoon, it has the taste of vanilla cream when the fruit is ripe, it has a specific scent and a specific flavor when the fruit has been freshly plucked. After that, the taste evolves to caramel cream if it is kept in the fridge for about ten days. And after three weeks, the taste evolves to coffee cream. So here we have a special fruit. No phytosanitary treatment is needed in this case, the plant is very resistant and very beautiful, decoratively, it has big leaves, the flowers are beautiful."

We found out these fruits have a very high percentage of minerals. In terms of potassium percentage, the fruit I second only to the Guava fruit. In fact, on Romanian territory, the species was brought to Pianu Nou, Alba County, in 1926, by the family of Suciu Ioan, Transylvanian migrants who returned from Ohio. Another special species Florin Stanica mentioned was the jujuba or the Dobrogea date tree.

It can be found in Dobrogea, in Ostrov, nearby the former fortress of Durostorum, lying in Silistra in Bulgaria, but we also found plant species of Dobrogea date in Jurilovca, nearby the fortress of Argamum or in Mahmudia, near the fortress of Salsovia. These plant species are always found nearby former Roman or Greek settlements. But we know they were rough to Europe some time during emperor Octavianus Augustus's reign. The plants on our territory yield smaller fruit, the size of a grape, with no special taste qualities."

About them, we found out they have a special ecological adaptability, being resistant to temperature readings ranging from 40 degrees below zero to 40 degrees Celsius, they prefer areas in southern Romania being very resistant to drought.