Pucheng Apples

Pucheng Apples

　　Pucheng apples are a specialty of Pucheng County, Weinan City, Shaanxi Province. Pucheng is a nationally renowned major apple-producing county, and its apples are famous both domestically and abroad for their pure taste, tender flesh, and sweet, delicious flavor.

　　Pucheng County is located in the northeast of the Guanzhong Plain. It currently administers 24 townships and 373 administrative villages, with a total population of 750,000. As a major agricultural county in Shaanxi, it has 1.4 million mu of arable land, producing 300 million kilograms of grain annually, ranking first in the province. It is also one of China’s 100 high-quality wheat production bases and a key county for ecological management.

　　Pucheng is a major fruit-producing county in Shaanxi, with 500,000 mu of orchard area, including 250,000 mu of apples, 170,000 mu of crisp pears, and 80,000 mu of seasonal specialty fruits. It has established 150,000 mu of pollution-free and green fruit production bases, yielding 500 million kilograms of fruit annually. It is the largest fruit production base in Shaanxi and one of the top 100 fruit-producing counties in China.

　　Located along the Guanzhong Avenue and as a key town in northern Weihe, Pucheng has been prosperous since ancient times. This region spans 1,584 square kilometers of loess land, featuring mountains, plains, valleys, plateaus, rivers, and floodplains. The complex terrain where plains transition to plateaus, the significant elevation drop from northwest to southeast, abundant sunlight, distinct four seasons, fertile deep soil, and moderate rainfall provide ideal conditions for growing high-quality fruits and maintaining a rich variety. Pucheng has long been known as the “Fruit Town.” Currently, the county has over 300 fruit purchase, sales, and service stations at the county, township, and village levels. Fruit merchants from all over the world, whether in the county seat or rural fruit-growing areas, are warmly welcomed. With the development of the fruit industry, packaging and processing enterprises serving the sector have flourished. The county now has more than 50 cardboard box factories, producing over ten million boxes annually. A wide range of box grades are available to meet your needs. There are also 36 large cold storage and controlled-atmosphere facilities with a capacity of over 1,000 tons each, over 500 facilities with a capacity of over 100 tons, and more than 10,000 small household fruit storage units with a capacity of over 10 tons, bringing the total storage capacity to over 100 million kilograms. With numerous storage options, low rental fees, and various formats, these facilities allow merchants to purchase and store fruits locally for batched transportation or use them for short-term turnover during harvest season. Fresh fruits can be sourced from Pucheng all year round.

　　Main Apple Varieties in Pucheng:

　　Fuji: Red Fuji was hybridized in 1939 at the Shengtong Branch of the Horticultural Experiment Station of Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and introduced to China in 1966. The fruit is large, with fine and slightly thick skin; the color is light red with a blush, and the flesh is pale yellow. The texture is fine, hard, and crisp, with abundant juice, a sweet and sour flavor, and a refreshing taste. The core is small, and in our county, the cultivar contains up to 17.5% soluble solids—3.5 percentage points higher than the origin. The flesh hardness is 9.2 kg/cm², indicating excellent quality. It matures in mid-October and is more resistant to storage than the Guoguang variety. Pucheng County cultivates 140,000 mu of Red Fuji, with an annual output of over 150,000 tons.

　　Starkrimson: Starkrimson originated from a whole-tree bud mutation of Red Delicious in Oregon, USA, in 1952, and was introduced to China in 1964. The fruit is large, with an average weight of 180 grams per fruit and a maximum of up to 300 grams. It has a long conical shape, with five prominent ridges at the fruit apex, a fruit shape index of 1, smooth skin, thick flesh, abundant bloom, sparse lenticels, thick and tough skin, and an overall deep red color with a bright hue. The flesh is initially greenish-white when freshly picked and turns pale yellow after storage. The texture is medium-coarse, crisp, with abundant juice and a strong sweet aroma. It contains 13.5% soluble solids and is of excellent quality. It matures in early September, but the fruit is prone to mealiness at room temperature and requires cold storage. Pucheng County cultivates 30,000 mu of Starkrimson, with an annual output of over 50,000 tons.

　　Qinguan: Qinguan is a late-maturing variety hybridized by the Shaanxi Fruit Research Institute in 1957 and named in 1970. The fruit is large, with an average weight of 200 grams per fruit and a maximum of over 350 grams. It has a conical shape, with a yellow-green base skin color and fully red skin. The skin is thick and tough, with noticeable lenticels and some cracked patches. The flesh is medium-coarse, crisp, with moderate juice, and a sweet-sour flavor. Its quality improves after storage. It matures in mid-October, is resistant to storage and transportation, and has a long shelf life. Pucheng County cultivates 50,000 mu of Qinguan, with an annual output of over 60,000 tons.

　　Newly Introduced Varieties: In recent years, with the optimization of the fruit industry structure, our county has introduced new apple varieties such as Gala, New Zealand, Songbenjin, Anna, Sansha, and Nanshu Crisp, as well as new varieties like Bayuehong, Hongxiangsu, Honganjiu, Qimeisu, and Zaomeisu. These have now expanded to over 40,000 mu, with an annual output of over 30,000 tons.