The unusual snow and frost that have been unleashed on the Brazilian state of Santa Caterina since Monday have the potential to damage the country's apple crop, website Revistagloborural.globo.com reported.

Brazilian Association of Apple Producers (ABPM) president Pierre Nicolas Péres, told the website it was still too early to calculate the impact, but the damage could be seen in orchards with fruit badly burned.

Péres said the lower orchards in São Joaquim had been the most affected by frost.

"It'll take a few more days to assess the damage, but these occurrences have rather a negative effect on the apple crop," he was quoted as saying.

He added before the shock the industry was having its second-best flowering in 26 years.

"We expected a very good season and we are coming bad years. This frost really surprised us."

Last year the industry harvested around 1.4 million metric tons (MT) of apples, of which 70% came from Santa Caterina.

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