USA
September 27, 2007
Source:
American Society for Horticultural
Science
Two new varieties of southernpeas,
WhipperSnapper and GreenPack-DG, boast attractive colors,
pleasing textures and flavors, plus nutrients like protein and
folate, a B vitamin.
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) research leader Richard
L. Fery co-developed these superior southernpeas with Blair
Buckley from Louisiana State
University-Baton Rouge and Dyremple Marsh, from
Lincoln University,
Jefferson City, Mo.
Fery described the research that led to the rich green color of
GreenPack-DG in the June issue of HortScience. WhipperSnapper is
featured in the August issue of HortScience, according to Fery.
He's based at ARS' U.S. Vegetable Laboratory in Charleston,
S.C., where he also develops new and improved bell and habañero
peppers.
Both southernpeas were offered to seed producers and researchers
for the first time in 2006, after years of laboratory,
greenhouse and field tests, Fery noted.
Southernpeas technically are beans, not peas. They are sometimes
called cowpeas, black-eyed peas, field peas or crowders.
Southernpeas appear in traditional southern cuisine in soups,
salads, casseroles and fritters, a fried quick-bread.
GreenPack-DG forms long, slightly curved pods that hold 12
plump, olive-green peas, each with a pink eye. It is the only
pink-eyed southernpea that has two genes for greenness, not just
one. Its "DG" initials stand for "double green."
The double-green feature is the work of genes called green
cotyledon and green testa. The genes ensure that the peas won't
lose some of their green color while growers are waiting for the
pods to become dry enough to machine-harvest and to shell the
peas from the pods.
Double-greenness gives GreenPack-DG a significant advantage over
Charleston Greenpack, an earlier southernpea from Fery's
laboratory that has only one greenness gene. In fact, Fery
expects GreenPack-DG to replace the earlier southernpea as a
favorite for processing into frozen pea products.
GreenPack-DG resulted from cooperative research conducted by ARS
and Western Seed Multiplication, Inc., Wadmalaw Island, S.C.
WhipperSnapper yields pods packed with 14 creamy-white,
kidney-shaped peas. It can be picked when the pods are still
immature, tender and edible, then sold as fresh snaps. The pods
also can be left on the vine until ready to sell with full-sized
peas either within the pods, or shelled.
This southernpea flourishes in weather that's too hot for some
other beans. Also, it is extremely easy to shell, a feature that
should make it especially popular with home gardeners, who
typically shell by hand. Larger-scale growers will find the
southernpea suitable for mechanical harvesting.
ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific
research agency.
Source:
USDA/ARS
Research Project: GENETIC
IMPROVEMENT OF SOUTHERNPEAS AND PEPPERS
Location: Charleston, South
Carolina
Title: WHIPPERSNAPPER, A SNAP-TYPE SOUTHERNPEA FOR HOME AND
MARKET GARDENERS AND THE FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY
Authors
Fery, Richard
Buckley, Blair - LSU
Marsh, Dyremple - LINCOLN UNIVERSITY
Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Abstract
Publication Acceptance Date: February 5, 2006
Publication Date: May 9, 2006
Citation: Fery, R.L., Buckley, B., Marsh, D.B. 2006.
Whippersnapper, a snap-type southernpea for home and market
gardeners and the food processing industry. HortScience.
40(3):516.
Technical Abstract: The USDA, Louisiana State
University, and Lincoln University have released a new
southernpea cultivar named WhipperSnapper. The new cultivar
is the product of a plant breeding effort to incorporate
genes conditioning superior yield and seed characteristics
of Asian vegetable cowpeas into American snap-type
southernpeas. The new cultivar was developed for use by home
gardeners and market gardeners as a dual-purpose cultivar
that can be used to produce both fresh-shell peas and
immature, fresh pods or snaps. Typical ready-to-harvest
WhipperSnapper snaps are green colored, 6.4 mm in diameter,
7.6 mm in height, and 24 cm long; the pods are slightly
curved at the attachment end. Typical mature-green pods
suitable for fresh-shell harvest exhibit an attractive
yellow color, are 25 cm long, and contain 14 peas. Fresh
peas are cream-colored, kidney-shaped, and weigh 24.5 g per
100 peas. Dry pods exhibit a light straw color, and the dry
peas have a smooth seed coat. The quality of WhipperSnapper
seed is excellent. In replicated field trials,
WhipperSnapper produced significantly greater yields of both
snaps and peas than the snap-type cultivar Bettersnap.
WhipperSnapper has potential for use as a
mechanically-harvested source of snaps for use by food
processors in mixed packs of peas and snaps. Protection for
WhipperSnapper is being sought under the Plant Variety
Protection Act.
Research Project: GENETIC
IMPROVEMENT OF SOUTHERNPEAS AND PEPPERS
Location: Charleston, South
Carolina
Title: GreenPack-DG, a pinkeye-type southernpea with an
enhanced persistent green seed phenotype
Author
Fery, Richard
Research conducted cooperatively with:
Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: November 11, 2006
Publication Date: June 6, 2007
Citation: Fery, R.L. 2007. `GreenPack-DG', a Pinkeye-type
Southernpea with an Enhanced Persistent Green Seed
Phenotype. HortScience 42:692-693.
Interpretive Summary: The pinkeye-type cultivar
Charleston Greenpack is the leading cultivar used by the
frozen food industry because its seeds can be harvested at
the dry stage of maturity without loss of their fresh-green
color. This cultivar has a persistent green seed phenotype
conditioned by the green cotyledon gene. However,
`Charleston Greenpack' must be harvested in a timely manner
because its seeds are susceptible to color loss when
harvesting is delayed. Nine years ago, an effort was
initiated at the U.S. Vegetable Laboratory, Charleston, SC,
to develop a pinkeye-type cultivar with a persistent green
seed color conditioned by two genes, i.e., the green
cotyledon gene and the green testa (seed coat) gene. These
efforts resulted in the January 2006 release of
`GreenPack-DG'. A major attribute of the new cultivar is the
persistence of the green color of unharvested dry seeds long
after optimal harvest time. Growers of `GreenPack-DG' will
have a considerable harvest window for harvesting a
high-color product. Color loss is a critical problem in
southernpea production systems where pre-harvest chemical
desiccants are used to facilitate mechanical harvesting
operations. The 7-day delay between application of the
desiccant and initiation of harvesting operations can result
in serious color degradation of dry seed.
Technical Abstract: The USDA has developed a new
pinkeye-type southernpea cultivar named `GreenPack-DG'.
`GreenPack-DG' is the first pinkeye-type southernpea to be
developed that has a persistent green seed phenotype
conditioned by both the green cotyledon gene and the green
testa (seed coat) gene. The new cultivar was developed from
a cross between `Charleston Greenpack' (green cotyledon
phenotype) and the breeding line USVL 97-296 (green testa
phenotype). `GreenPack-DG' originated as a bulk of an F8
population grown in 2003. Except for longer pods,
`GreenPack-DG' is similar in appearance and maturity to
`Charleston Greenpack'. Fresh peas are kidney shaped,
slightly smaller than `Charleston Greenpack' seeds, and have
a pink eye. Dry `GreenPack-DG' seeds have a richer and more
uniform green seed color than dry seeds of `Charleston
Greenpack'. The major attribute of the new cultivar is the
persistence of the green color of unharvested dry peas long
after optimal harvest. Results of three years of replicated
field tests at Charleston, SC, indicate that `GreenPack-DG'
yields are comparable to `Charleston Greenpack' yields. The
new cultivar has excellent field resistance to blackeye
cowpea mosaic virus and does not produce hard seeds.
`GreenPack-DG' is recommended for trial by the frozen food
industry as a replacement for `Charleston Greenpack'. It
should perform well in all areas where `Charleston
Greenpack' has been grown successfully.
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