Actinidia Species and Cultivars

The genus Actinidia is composed of 76 species and about 120 taxa in all (Ferguson and Huang, 2007). In international trade today, the term kiwifruit is taken as including two distinct Actinidia species A. deliciosa and A. chinensis. Recently, fruit of A. arguta have made an entry into international trade. Other Actinidia species have commercial potential, or are important as useful genetic resources for cultivar development by interspecific hybridization techniques. 

The most common type of kiwifruit is A. deliciosa. Fruit of this species has a dull-brown skin with dense hair. Its flesh is translucent and bright green, which contrasts against its white core and black seeds. 

delidosa and A. chinensis are very similar species. They had been classified as the same species until 1984, when they were determined to be two distinct species by Liang and Ferguson (1984). The variant with smooth-skinned, almost hairless fruit retained the original name A. chinensis, and the hairy-fruited variant took the name A. delidosa (Ferguson, 2004). The A. chinensis 

Species genotype Color of flesh Density of hairs Average fruit weight (g) 

Koryoku A. deliciosa x A. Deep green chinensis Dense 98.7 

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