‘Fiji Red’ papaya comes from foundation seed of Solo sunrise developed by the University of Hawaii Seed Lab. This foundation seed has been improved in Fiji over several generations to produce a variety with highly desirable eating and keeping qualities that performs well under Fiji conditions.
‘Fiji Red’ has a freckled greenish-yellow skin that turns yellow as the fruit ripens, but inside is a juicy, dramatic red-orange color flesh.
The characteristics of ‘Fiji Red’ are as follows:
- exceptional sweetness and flavour (high brix-12%-15%),
- strong red coloured flesh,
- good size characteristics (400 to 600 gm)
- good keeping qualities.
Papaya Publications and Reports
Fiji has a long history of eggplant exports dating back to 1996 when NWC opened for business. There are three main eggplant varieties that are exported from Fiji to New Zealand, including:
Variety – Pritam (long purple)
General – Variety is also known as Long purple. Most common export eggplant variety in Fiji. Desirable for curry because flesh does not turn black during cooking. Good disease tolerance and post-harvest handling attributes.
Size range – 20 – 25 cm in length. 3 – 5 cm in width.
General shape – Long, straight with same thickness throughout the fruit.
Main colour of skin at harvest maturity – Bright purple
Variety – Chahat
General – Second most important export eggplant variety in Fiji. Most widely used eggplant variety in the hotel industry in Fiji because of its similarity to Western varieties such as ‘Black beauty’.
Size range –13-17 cm in length. 5- 8 cm in width.
General shape – Long and narrow at the stem end turning to round (bell shaped) at the blossom end. Generally straight without curves.
Main colour of skin at harvest maturity – Dark purple (the colour looks different from Pritam)
Other remarks – Preferred variety for Indian dish ‘Chokha’ and Fijian dish ‘Baigani vaka lolo’.
Variety – Round purple
General – Export variety with desirable cooking qualities for grilling and frying.
Size range – 9-12 cm in length. 9 – 12 cm in width.
General shape – Round with grooves/segments from stem end to blossom end.
Main colour of skin at harvest maturity – Dark purple
Other remarks – Preferred variety for the Sikh and Gujarati stuffed eggplant dish known as ‘bharta’ or ‘rawaia’.
Eggplant reports and publications
Fiji exports two main breadfruit varieties which have highly desirable characteristics for fresh export including:
- good eating qualities when harvested at the mature green stage, particularly from the perspective of the Samoan community;
- good keeping qualities when harvested at the mature green stage, including tolerance to the HTFA quarantine treatment;
- smaller uniform size (when mature) – preferred for quarantine treatment, packing, shipping and marketing;
Uto Dina Variety
Bale Kana Variety
Fiji exports a range of mango varieties including introduced hybrids and traditional Fiji varieties such as peach, juicy and parrot. Many Fiji exporters also export green mangoes used for pickling in overseas markets. Mango exports from Fiji start in June, with pickling mango without the seed. The treatment of pickling mango continues right through until the end of December. Local eating mango usually start in October and exotic improved variety mango comes on stream in November and December.
