Sunflower can be genetically revamped to produce frying oil that would allow snack food processors to label potato chips fried in it as "low in saturated fat." Foods with that label must have less than one gram of saturated fat per 1-ounce (28.4 grams) serving. ARS scientists have developed eight new mutant sunflower genetic stocks with seeds low in either palmitic or stearic acids. By combining genes from two of these stocks, breeders can develop lines that produce oil with nearly 30 percent less saturated fatty acid than traditional hybrids. To reduce saturated fat even further, the researchers have crossed these lines with a new class of sunflower hybrid called NuSun. Vegetable oil from NuSun has several times more oleic acid than traditional sunflower oil and less than half as much linoleic acid, a composition that helps the oil hold up well in frying vats even without undergoing a process called hydrogenation.
Red River Valley Agricultural Research Center, Fargo, ND
Jerry F. Miller, (701) 239-1321, millerjf@fargo.ars.usda.gov

Coda, a new ARS club wheat variety, resists strawbreaker footrot, one of the most devastating fungal diseases in the Pacific Northwest. Washington, Idaho and Oregon produce most of the nation's club wheat, and exports supply virtually all Asia's club needs. Japan and other Pacific Rim countries prize a special mixture of club and soft white wheat called Western White for making sponge cakes and other confections. Club wheat is a type of soft white wheat that has unique flour qualities and more compact grain heads than typical soft white wheat. Coda is the first club wheat that has both the disease resistance and quality bakers and consumers demand. Coda can replace Hyak, a club wheat with footrot resistance—and an unwanted gene that reduces flour quality. Coda does not have this gene and also yields more than Hyak. The ARS variety Madsen, which also carries this disease resistance, has saved growers millions of dollars annually in reduced pesticide use.
Wheat Genetics, Quality, Physiology and Disease Research, Pullman, WA
Robert E. Allan, (509) 335-3632, allanre@mail.wsu.edu

"RoadCrest," a hardy new crested wheatgrass from ARS and Utah State University researchers, may be helping control erosion along roadsides and highways in the West within a few years. This grass "greens up" earlier in spring than many others that scientists scrutinized in tests in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and Washington. Also, RoadCrest requires less seed to establish a healthy stand, and is shorter in stature, a trait that helps reduce the need for costly mowing. It tolerates cold and drought, and readily forms rhizomes—horizontal, underground stems that send up new shoots to create attractively uniform, gap-free growth. RoadCrest is a descendant of parent plants collected as seed in Turkey and sent to ARS for grass- breeding experiments. A perennial, cool-season grass, RoadCrest should thrive in temperate, semi-arid areas of Intermountain and Great Plains states. In those regions, it is best suited for sites that have mild summer temperatures and receive about 10 to 20 inches of precipitation a year. The state of Utah helped fund the research. Seed should be on sale by the year 2000.
Forage and Range Research, Logan, UT
Kay H. Asay, (435) 797-3069, khasay@cc.usu.edu

Most gardeners know how to trick bulbs into blooming indoors out of season with refrigeration. But the Chesapeake series of ornithogalums from ARS research will give flower lovers holiday blossoms without cold treatments. These "flowers of fire" disguise themselves as houseplants most of the time but explode with colorful blossoms several times during the year. ARS scientists, working with a California breeder, created this new take on the classic Star-of-Bethlehem lily. Unlike the traditional white-flowered members of Ornithogalum, 'Chesapeake Blaze,' 'Chesapeake Sunburst' and 'Chesapeake Sunset' add a special orange-red and golden fire to this floral family. Bulbs are available from Bay City Flower Company in Half Moon Bay, CA.
Floral and Nursery Plants Research, U.S. National Arboretum, Beltsville, MD
Robert J. Griesbach, (301) 504-6574, griesbac@asrr.arsusda.gov

Last Updated: November 13, 1998
Return to: Quarterly Report Table of Contents