Maluma (''Persea Americana'' Mill. cv. 'Maluma') is a commercial
cultivar
A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...
of
avocado
The avocado (''Persea americana'') is a medium-sized, evergreen tree in the laurel family ( Lauraceae). It is native to the Americas and was first domesticated by Mesoamerican tribes more than 5,000 years ago. Then as now it was prized for ...
that was discovered in South Africa. It is marketed simply as 'Maluma', but sometimes also as 'Maluma Hass' referring to its similarity in appearance to the well-known
Hass
Hass may refer to:
* Hass (Ottoman)
* Hass (surname)
* Hass (town), a town in Syria
* Hass avocado, a type of avocado named after its cultivator, Rudolph Hass
* Hass Petroleum, an investment company
* Humanities, arts, and social sciences
* Home ...
cultivar. Its name originated from the fact that it was discovered by Mr. Dries Joubert, a farmer from
Levubu
Levubu is a village in the Makhado Local Municipality, part of the Vhembe District Municipality of Limpopo province, South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is ...
in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
, on his farm 'Maluma'.
Maluma is considered a large fruit with individual fruit weights ranging from 150 gram to 400 gram, with most fruit being in the 250 to 300 gram range. It is known as a black-skinned avocado cultivar due to the dark purple-black colour of the skin when ripe.
History
Maluma was discovered by Mr. A.G. (Dries) Joubert on his farm 'Maluma' in the Levubu region in northern South Africa in the early 1990s. Maluma was noted by Mr. Joubert due to its proportionally larger fruit, precociousness and high yield compared to the regular 'Hass' trees in his commercially cultivated orchard.
Mr. Joubert approached Allesbeste Nursery in South Africa, an avocado nursery specialising in reproducing avocado trees asexually using a proprietary method called micro-cloning, in the latter part of the 1990s to investigate the uniqueness and commercial viability of the observed avocado fruit. Allesbeste Nursery then proceeded with semi-commercial field trials and found the fruit to be sufficiently unique and commercially viable as a new avocado cultivar.
Until this point the fruit were referred to informally as 'Dries Hass' (from Mr. Joubert's first name) and sold simply as 'Hass'.
Allesbeste Nursery proceeded to formally name the cultivar Maluma after the farm where it was discovered and also applied and was granted a
plant breeders' right in South Africa on 7 November 2004. It was granted full export status under its own name by South African authorities in 2006, after which it was revealed to the international avocado world at the VI
World Avocado Congress held in
Viña del Mar,
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
in 2007.
Maluma has subsequently been planted in most avocado producing regions of the world and has been granted registered plant protection in most of those countries, while pending in others.
Botanical characteristics
Maluma was discovered as a
chance seedling and because it did not originate from a
breeding program
A breeding program is the planned breeding of a group of animals or plants, usually involving at least several individuals and extending over several generations. There are a couple of breeding methods, such as artificial (which is man made) and ...
, the parentage of the cultivar is unknown. However, it appears to be related to Guatemalan varieties with some Mexican gene characteristics.
Maluma trees produce A-type flowers. The tree is a slow, upright grower while being precocious. It has an axial-irregular branching habit. The fruit are of a
pyriform
Piriform, sometimes ''pyriform'', means pear-shaped (from Latin ''pirum'' "pear" and ''forma'' "shape").
It may also refer to:
Going pear-shaped
* Going wrong or going pear-shaped
Anatomy
* Piriform aperture, more commonly known as anterior n ...
shape with weights ranging from 150 gram to 400 gram, peaking at 250 to 300 gram with an asymmetrical
pedicel
Pedicle or pedicel may refer to:
Human anatomy
*Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures
...
. The fruit are green when unripe and turn dark purple-black when ripe. The fruit skin is rough and pebbly.
Suitability for high density cultivation
![High density Maluma orchard on Avondshoek](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/High_density_Maluma_orchard_on_Avondshoek.jpg)
Due to the fact that Maluma trees tend to grow slower and therefore more compact, when compared to 'Hass' trees, together with its ease of pruning and relatively high yield potential makes it well suited for
high density cultivation practices.
Further reading
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References
{{Avocados
Avocado cultivars