Frankenfruit

I'm not even gonna try to pose as one of those candy kids; for I am a fruit-a-holic! Sure, I'll give you my Snickers, but only to create enough distraction to knock you down and steal your succulent peach- yep, we fruit-a-holics play dirty. And that's why I'm absolutely elated that these mouth-watering new fruit hybrids are hitting the market.

GRAPPLE
(Concord grape + Fuji apple)

C&O Nursery, Wenatchee, Washington
Tasting notes: Think crunchy Welch's. Still, tasters gave it the thumbs-up in a recent market trial.
Backstory: C&O marketing whizzes decided to bathe Fuji apples in a patented grape-flavored solution. Other flavors are in development.
First harvest: 2004
Average price: $4 to $5 for four

NECTAPLUM
(Nectarine + plum)

Zaiger's Genetics, Modesto, California
Tasting notes: Juicy, melt-in-your-mouth flesh with a hint of spice.
Backstory: Zaiger "hybridizers" crossed hundreds of fruits, then culled the field after taste tests.
First harvest: 2005
Average price: About $1.75 a pound - 50 to 75 cents higher than ordinary nectarines

PASSION POPPER KIWI-BERRY
(Miniaturized kiwifruit)

Kiwi Korners, Danville, Pennsylvania
Tasting notes: Kiwi Korners describes the flavor as "cotton candy with a refined finish." Probably because there's almost double the sugar per ounce.
Backstory: Staff discovered these growing among other hardy Asian kiwis and cultivated them.
First harvest: 2002
Average price: $3 to $5 for a 6-ounce package

PEACOTUM
(Peach + apricot + plum)

Zaiger's Genetics, Modesto, California
Tasting notes: Sophisticated Hawaiian Punch. The best of all three progenitors, with a hint of mango.
Backstory: Inventor Floyd Zaiger swapped pollen among peach, plum, and apricot trees with an eye-shadow brush and reared the resulting seedlings.
First harvest: 2008 or later
Average price: TBD

RAINBOW CARROTS
(Carrots + nutrients + pigment)

US Department of Agriculture, Madison, Wisconsin Tasting notes: USDA researcher Philipp Simon says his carrots taste just like regular ones.
Backstory: Simon bred red, yellow, purple, and white carrots by emphasizing natural pigments.
Different colors are high in different nutrients.
First harvest: 2004
Average price: 75 cents to $1 per pound

SUNLITE LOW-CARB POTATO
SunFresh, Saint Augustine, Florida
(Low-carb, lower-cal potato)

Tasting notes: Researchers at the University of Florida call it moist and creamy.
Backstory: While testing potato varieties developed by a seed company in the Netherlands, researchers at UF found one with 30 percent fewer carbs.
First harvest: 2005
Average price: $1.10 a pound

Descriptions from Wired Magazine