FOOD & WINE - The University of California Riverside (UCR) has been nicknamed “the Highlanders,” but should they ever decide to switch mascots, the Avocados might be a good choice. The university’s College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences has an acclaimed avocado breeding program that started in the 1950s, and has patented and released eight new varieties of the guac-essential since then.
The program has also announced the arrival of another (patent-pending) avo-variety, called the Luna UCR. The development of the Luna is the result of over half a century of breeding and research and, although it still could be several years before the avocado is on supermarket shelves, it has already shown to have some advantages over the now-prevalent Hass avocado.
According to Mary Lu Arpaia, a UC Cooperative Extension horticulturist and one of the would-be patent holders on the Luna avocado, this new fruit is grown on small trees, which would allow avocado growers to plant them in dense close rows. On top of that, its flowers are particularly good pollenizers for other avocados, which would benefit other varieties that are planted near the Lunas.