the present invention is a new and distinct variety of actinidia deliciosa plants having the several characteristics that distinguish the variety from other kiwi plants , particularly the ‘ hayward ’ variety . the new variety ‘ tsechelidis ’ was discovered in episkopi , imathia , greece , when the inventor planted seeds from selected hayward plants with the purpose of obtaining a group of male plants . from this original group of twenty plants , a single plant was identified as female . during its first harvest in 1994 , the female plant bore unusually large fruit as compared to plants of the ‘ hayward ’ variety . the female plant was monitored for the next two harvests and consistently bore the unusually large fruit , as well as other features which distinguished it from ‘ hayward ’. the female plant was then used to propagate the ‘ tsechelidis ’ variety by asexual reproduction beginning in 1996 . the ‘ tsechelidis ’ variety has been continuously asexually reproduced by cuttings from 1996 through 2007 . the distinguishing characteristics of the variety continue to run true in the propagated plants , as shown by about 1000 plants covering ½ hectare . furthermore , no changes have appeared in the new variety when grafted on ‘ hayward ’. in addition to cuttings , the new variety can be asexually reproduced by grafting to rootstocks of a . deliciosa . male pollenizers suitable for ‘ tsechelidis ’ may include , but are not limited to , ‘ matua ’. at this time the ‘ tsechelidis ’ variety is being tested for self - pollenization by the university of volvos , greece . according to preliminary results , ‘ tsechelidis ’ is characterized by up to 75 % self - pollenization as compared to 2 % for ‘ hayward ’. ‘ tsechelidis ’ should be cultivated in areas that are not affected by spring frost . temperatures of less than − 2 ° c . will damage the tender shoots of the plant and suspending growth or reduce the setting process . also , frost in early autumn to late october may damage fruit situated on the vine . the presence of strong wind , particularly in may , may result in considerable decrease of flowers borne by the plant . the following is a comparison of the fruit production an orchard of ‘ tsechelidis ’ as compared with cultivated ‘ hayward ’ situated in the area of episkopi - anthemion in the prefecture of imathia , greece . at the time of this study ( 2006 ) the ‘ tsechelidis ’ orchard was five years old . the listed observations , measurements and assessments were made in the following categories : 2 . quantitative production data ( yield , number of fruits / plants and average fruit weight ). 4 . qualitative fruit characteristics ( resistance to pressure , ph , soluble solids (° brix ), vitamin c , acids , sugars , thiault index and dry matter ). the chart below describes the physical differences between ‘ tsechelidis ’ and the known ‘ hayward ’ variety . the horticultural terminology applied below is used in accordance with revised upov guidelines for kiwi ( test guidelines — tg / 98 / 6 — actinidia 2001 - 04 - 04 , available at http :// www . upov . int / en / publications / tg - rom / tg098 / tg — 98 — 6 . pdf ). the shoots of ‘ tsechelidis ’ grow more vigorously than ‘ hayward ’, though there is no difference with respect to resilience against pest and diseases . the fruits of ‘ tsechelidis ’ are more oblong than ‘ hayward ’ ( the ratio of fruit length / width is 1 . 41 and 1 . 24 respectively ). furthermore , the fruits of ‘ tsechelidis ’ are larger and more uniform in size . ‘ tsechelidis ’ do no require thinning absent defective fruit , unlike ‘ hayward ’. additionally , due to the larger fruit size , any decrease that may be caused by low temperatures during the flowering season or poor pollination of the fruits will not affect the marketability of the fruits , in contrast with ‘ hayward ’. significance parameter ‘ tsechelidis ’ ‘ hayward ’ level ( p ) total number of 250 279 p & gt ; 0 . 05 fruits / plant number of 249 222 p & gt ; 0 . 05 marketable fruits rate of 99 . 6 79 . 6 — marketable fruits (%) total yield ( kg / 41 . 9 29 . 9 p & gt ; 0 . 05 plant ) yield of 41 . 6 25 . 1 0 . 001 & lt ; p & lt ; 0 . 01 marketable fruits ( kg / plant ) yield of 99 . 3 83 . 9 — marketable fruits (%) average weight 167 . 0 114 . 5 p & lt ; 0 . 001 of marketable fruits ( g ) average weight 237 . 0 88 . 8 p & lt ; 0 . 001 of non - marketable fruits ( g ) p & gt ; 0 . 05 signifies a statistically insignificant difference . ‘ tsechelidis ’ has a greater density of buds in each stem than ‘ hayward ’, whereby each stem , which has 13 buds , produces about 10 kg of fruit . therefore , each ‘ tsechelidis ’ tree , having about 15 - 18 stems , yields about 140 - 150 kg of fruit . the high yield , and large size and uniformity of the fruit of ‘ tsechelidis ’, as compared to the ‘ hayward ’, are significant advantages , particularly with regard to reducing production costs . this data was taken during a harvest affected by adverse weather during the growing season in imathia , greece . the following is table that shows the statistically significant differences in nutritional elements between ‘ tsechelidis ’ and ‘ hayward ’. the following tables show specific qualitative fruit characteristics between ‘ tsechelidis ’ and ‘ hayward ’. the first table lists measurements of fruit immediately after harvest . the second table lists measurements taken of fruit held in refrigerated storage for two months after harvest . measurements taken two ( 2 ) months after harvest significance parameter ‘ tsechelidis ’ ‘ hayward ’ level ( p ) resistance to 10 . 10 . 9 p & gt ; 0 . 05 pressure ( lb / in 2 ) flesh ph 3 . 32 3 . 41 p & lt ; 0 . 001 soluble solids 13 . 6 13 . 0 p & gt ; 0 . 05 (° brix ) (%) vitamin c ( mg / 100 80 . 2 38 . 3 p & lt ; 0 . 001 g fresh weight ) malic acid ( g / l ) 4 . 8 4 . 5 p & gt ; 0 . 05 sugars ( g / l ) 84 . 4 80 . 0 p & gt ; 0 . 05 thiault index 132 . 4 125 . 0 p & gt ; 0 . 05 based on the above information , the following distinctions may be drawn between ‘ tsechelidis ’ and ‘ hayward ’. the fruit of ‘ tsechelidis ’ ripen 7 - 10 days earlier than ‘ hayward ’, which is shown by the fruit &# 39 ; s lower resistance to pressure and their slight superiority in soluble solids (° brix ) during harvest . despite the earlier ripening , the resistance to pressure of ‘ tsechelidis ’ after two months of refrigerated storage was the same as ‘ hayward ’. a molecular genetic analysis was conducted by dr . athanasios mavromatis , professor of genetics & amp ; plant breeding ( university of thessaly , school of agricultural services ) comparing ‘ tsechelidis ’ with ‘ hayward ’ based on known microsatellite dna markers using pcr . the method is recognized as an accurate and repeatable molecular analysis for actinidia . huang , w . g ., cipriani , g ., morgante , m ., testolin , r . ( 1998 ) microsatellite dna in actinidia chinensis : isolation , characterization , and homology in related species . theor . appl . genet . 97 ( 8 ): 1269 - 1278 . repeatable samples of four genotypes were used ( commercial clones of ‘ hayward ’ ( one female , one male ) and ‘ tsechelidis ’ ( one female , one male )). leaf samples of 0 . 3 g per genotype was used for dna extraction process according to a modified cetyltrimethylammonium bromide ( ctab ) method . the extract dna was quantified on agarose gel by comparison with report samples ( dna marker ). the dna quality and quantity was tested to ensure accuracy of the molecular genetic analysis . thirteen known primer pairs were used for amplifying dinucleotide tandems ag / ct and ac / gt . the primer pairs used were : udk 96 - 022 , udk 97 - 402 , udk 99 - 152 , udk 96 - 053 , udk 97 - 411 , udk 96 - 030 , udk 96 - 001 , udk 96 - 037 , udk 96 - 034 , udk 99 - 168 , udk 96 - 092 , udk 97 - 406 and udk 97 - 407 . the primers were developed in a bilateral european union international cooperation with developing countries ( inco - dc ) project performed by university of udine , italy ; chinese agricultural university , beijing china ; inra , france ; and university of thessaly , greece . the pcr products were separated in 6 % polyacrylamide gels 1 . 5 mm thick . band visualization was made with silver nitrate . the results of the study indicated that at least seven out of 13 primer pairs were polymorphic . therefore , the study provides grounds for distinguishing between genetic material from ‘ tsechelidis ’ as compared to ‘ hayward ’. the polymorphic primer pairs are described in the table below according to the presence and absence of alleles of the same molecular weight . the genetic difference confirmed through diverse binding patterns indicate that the ‘ tsechelidis ’ variety is genetically distinct from ‘ hayward ’.
a new and distinctive variety of the kiwi plant , actinidia deliciosa , named ‘ tsechelidis ’ is described . the new variety is characterized by very large oblong fruit covered with downy hairs , and very broad ovate leaves having acuminate apexes , among other features . the size and uniformity of the fruit provide significantly higher yield than other known varieties of kiwi .