Gold Nugget
A mandarin bred in California.
No photo of Gold Nugget yet
Origin · Riverside, California, United States
Released 1999
No Gold Nugget photo yet
Taste & texture
- Sweetness
- sweet
A mandarin can be harvestable before it reaches the eating quality it's bred for. Ask about maturity as well as the variety name.
breeder guidance · California trials: Riverside, San Joaquin Valley, Ventura/Santa Paula/Ojai and southern desert locations
Read the evidence
The UC Riverside breeders recommend a soluble-solids/acidity ratio of at least 10:1 for Gold Nugget marketing. They report that taste-panel evaluations favor this later maturity, about three weeks after reaching an 8:1 ratio, with improved flavor and easier peeling.
- Fruit tested
- On-tree fruit near harvest maturity
- Varieties compared
- Gold Nugget
- Use studied
- Fresh eating unless otherwise specified
Bumpiness alone isn't a reason to reject an otherwise sound Gold Nugget mandarin. Judge ripeness and damage separately from its normal surface texture.
breeder guidance · California cultivar evaluations
Read the evidence
The UC Riverside description reports rich, sweet mature Gold Nugget flavor alongside rind textures that range from slightly bumpy to quite coarse. Tree age, crop load and pruning affect that rind texture.
- Fruit tested
- Whole mature Gold Nugget mandarins
- Varieties compared
- Gold Nugget
- Use studied
- Fresh eating unless otherwise specified
How to spot it
- Seeds & stone
- seedless
Origin & family
Where Gold Nugget began
Recorded origin
Riverside, California
United States
- Institution
- University of California, Riverside
- Crossed
- 1955
- Released
- 1999
Gold Nugget’s family
3 varieties · 2 recorded linksArrows follow parents → children
Gold Nugget
Riverside, California, United States
Drag to explore. Select a variety for its recorded relationships.