Author
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Finn, Chad |
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Submitted to: Acta Horticulturae
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 9/1/2006 Publication Date: 1/28/2008 Citation: Finn, C.E. 2008. New USDA-ARS blackberry cultivars bring diversity to the market. Acta Horticulturae. 777:81-86. Interpretive Summary: While the primary objective of the USDA-ARS breeding program has been to develop thornless, machine-harvestable, trailing blackberry cultivars with processed fruit quality comparable to the current industry standard ‘Marion’, they have also been identifying potential cutlivars with unique market niches. The recently named ‘Black Diamond’, ‘Black Pearl’ and ‘Nightfall’ are thornless, machine harvestable, and have fruit quality comparable to ‘Marion’. As part of the USDA-ARS's germplasm program, they have collected the native, wild blackberry in the Pacific Northwest, evalutated it and used it as a parent with the thornless blackberry 'Waldo'. One superior selection, ORUS 1843-3, combines the outstanding fruit quality of the native blackberry with the thornlessness and disease resistance of ‘Waldo', and is being propagated for commercial release. Fruit of ORUS 1843-3 are small, ~3 g, but since they can be machine harvested, it will be planted to meet specific processing applications that require small fruit. Northwest growers are interested increasingly in producing fruit for the fresh market. The recent releases ‘Obsidian’ and ‘Metolius’ are extremely early ripening in a climate like the Pacific Northwest, have excellent fruit quality and can be picked with sufficient firmness to ship in the wholesale fresh market. The recent USDA-ARS releases represent a diversity of new options for commercial growers including thornless, high quality, machine harvested cultivars for processing, a thornless, small fruited cultivar for specific processing niches, and, for fresh sales, the earliest ripening blackberries on the market. Technical Abstract: The primary objective of the USDA-ARS breeding program has been to develop thornless, machine-harvestable, trailing blackberry (Rubus L.) cultivars with processed fruit quality comparable to the current industry standard ‘Marion’. ‘Black Diamond’, ‘Black Pearl’ and ‘Nightfall’, are recent releases by the USDA-ARS that are thornless, machine harvestable, and have fruit quality comparable to ‘Marion’ in evaluations by food scientists and by evaluation panels. The USDA-ARS program has had a long germplasm evaluation and development program utilizing Rubus ursinus. One cross of a superior selection of R. ursinus with ‘Waldo’ produced ORUS 1843-3, which combines the outstanding fruit quality of the native R. ursinus with the thornlessness and disease resistance of ‘Waldo, and is being propagated for commercial release. Fruit of ORUS 1843-3 are small, ~3 g, but since they can be machine harvested, it will be planted to meet specific processing applications that require small fruit. While the bulk of the program is geared towards processing genotypes, Northwest growers are interested increasingly in producing fruit for the fresh market. The recent releases ‘Obsidian’ and ‘Metolius’ are extremely early ripening in a climate like the Pacific Northwest, have excellent fruit quality and can be picked with sufficient firmness to ship in the wholesale fresh market. The recent USDA-ARS releases represent a diversity of new options for commercial growers including thornless, high quality, machine harvested cultivars for processing, a thornless, small fruited cultivar for specific processing niches, and, for fresh sales, the earliest ripening blackberries on the market. |
