Breeding report of a new small apple cultivar Qindeng

Qindeng is a mid-maturing, red-skinned new apple cultivar characterized by its small fruit. The variety was derived from a cross between Gala and Malus sieboldii made in 2010 at experimental field in Baishui county. It was initially selected in 2016 for its nice color and superior fruit quality and appearance. After five years of consistent observations, it was advanced to the final selection stage in 2020 and subsequently entered regional trials in Baishui, Xunyi, and Fufeng counties of Shaanxi Province. The cultivar passed the preliminary review of the Shaanxi Provincial Committee for Fruit Tree Variety Approval in 2023 and was granted a plant variety certificate by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in September 2025. This cultivar is a tall tree, attaining a height of 4 m under dwarfing cultivation; the tree is medium-strong vigorous with semicircular crown and upright tree gesture. The main trunk is grayish- brown, then brown. Annual shoots are upright, reddish- brown, medium- density fur， moderate hardness with an average diameter of 5.8 mm and internode length of 3.74 cm. The leaf buds are large, triangular, attached and covered with abundant downy fur. The flower buds are plump and full, heart-shaped, compact and full of downy fur. The leaves are nearly round, dark green in color, lustrous, large and medium-thick. The thickness of one hundred leaves is 3.37 cm and the weight is 124 g. The leaf posture is upright，ovate to elliptic, acuminate, sharply serrated. Leaves measure 9.88 cm in length and 6.9 cm in width，length-to- width ratio is 1.43. The petiole is 2.43 cm long and relatively thick. The flower buds are pink, the petals are oblong and white, pedicel villous. The corolla is medium, with a diameter of 4.45 cm, and there are 20 stamens. Fruit position and fruit uniformity is good. The fruit is small (mean weight 80 g) and oblate in shape covered with a bright red blush and features small lenticels. Its flesh is crisp, fine-textured, and juicy, offering a balanced sweet-tart flavor. The content of soluble solids is 13.4%, the content of total sugar is 10.85%, the content of total acid is 0.60%, the content of titratable acid is 0.48%, the sugar-acid ratio is 17.99, hardness 6.1 kg·cm-2 , Vitamin C 1.31 mg·g-1 . Quality is excellent. In the Weibei area of Shaanxi, bloom occurs in late March, with fruit ripening in late August, about 5-10 days later than Gala. The fruit development period is about 135 days, with leaf fall occurring in mid-to-late November. The fruit can be stored for 20-25 days at ambient temperature and for up to 3 months in cold air storage. This cultivar demonstrates strong stress resistance and disease tolerance. It shows broad market potential for the Weibei area of Shaanxi and similar ecological regions, and is particularly suitable for simplified cultivation systems that omit labor-intensive practices like hand thinning and fruit bagging.