Vranjska quince

Vranjska quince, popularly known as Dunjac, is our old, autochthonous domestic variety, originating from the area around Vranje in southern Serbia. It is one of the oldest and most widespread companion varieties throughout the Balkans, indispensable in traditional and amateur orchards. It is recognized as the absolute pomological standard in the class of pear-shaped quinces, due to its giant fruit and unsurpassed intensity of aroma.

It is a distinctly triploid variety with completely sterile pollen. Vranjska quince bears fruit exclusively thanks to the pollen of pollinator varieties that flower at the same time, and its best and field-proven pollinator is Leskovačka quince, or the Champion variety. In commercial orchards, it is planted in a ratio of 10% Vranjska to 90% Leskovačka, in order to make use of its massive yield and ensure a complete varietal assortment. It flowers medium-late to late.

Until the beginning of bearing, the tree is extremely vigorous, strong-growing, and robust in habit, with a powerful root system and a large, wide, and well-branched canopy. Later, under the weight of its massive fruit, natural vigor decreases, and the strong scaffold branches bend in arches toward the ground. The variety is highly vital and long-lived. It enters the fruiting stage early, as early as the third year after planting, and, provided that successful cross-pollination occurs, produces regular and very abundant yields.

It ripens late, in mid to late October, usually around 7 to 10 days after Leskovačka quince.

Harvesting takes place during the second half of October. It requires extremely careful hand picking because the fruit is massive and heavy, and before harvest it can easily fall from the tree due to wind and become damaged.

It has poor fresh-storage ability and requires rapid use after harvest. Unlike apple-shaped quince varieties, Vranjska quince has a dry and spongy flesh texture, which is why after harvest it loses moisture extremely quickly and is prone to internal browning and rot in storage. It is not suitable for longer storage in cold storage facilities. Due to its exceptionally strong, penetrating, and beautiful aroma, it is traditionally used in households to refresh rooms, by keeping the fruit on top of cupboards. Due to its high pectin content, it is primarily intended for rapid processing into premium jams, marmalades, compotes, preserves, and for blending with Leskovačka quince in order to obtain exceptionally aromatic quince brandy.

The fruit is exceptionally large to giant, with an average weight of 400–600 g, while in optimal conditions individual fruit easily reach weights of over 1 kg. It has a characteristic elongated, elegant pear-shaped form, with pronounced ribs and a clearly visible narrowing, or neck, near the stem. The skin is medium-thick, intense golden-yellow at harvest, and covered with very dense gray ashy down, or fuzz, which is easily removed by wiping. The flesh is pale yellow, dry, more brittle, and spongy in texture, with a large and pronounced content of stone cells, or sclereids, around the seed cavity, which makes it astringent for fresh consumption. The taste is refreshing and acidic-sweet.

It is highly susceptible to fire blight, Erwinia amylovora. It is considerably more prone to this dangerous disease than Leskovačka quince, so in humid and warm springs it requires extremely strict, regular, and preventive chemical protection, including copper treatments during dormancy and targeted fungicides or bactericides at full bloom. It shows outstanding resistance of the wood to harsh winter frosts.

Our quince fruit trees are produced on highly compatible and certified rootstocks: Quince M-A and Quince BA-29, with which the Vranjska quince variety achieves perfect, completely successful, and stable direct natural compatibility, without an interstock, guaranteeing long tree life, early entry into bearing, and ideal vigor control in intensive orchards.