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Title: ‘WhiteAcre-DG’, a Small-seeded, Cream-type Southernpea with an Enhanced Persistent Green Seed Phenotype

Author
item Fery, Richard

Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/16/2009
Publication Date: 8/1/2009
Citation: Fery, R.L. 2009. ‘WhiteAcre-DG’, a Small-seeded, Cream-type Southernpea with an Enhanced Persistent Green Seed Phenotype. HortScience. 44(5):1472-1473.

Interpretive Summary: ‘White Acre’ is a leading cream-type southernpea variety used by the frozen food industry. Traditionally, ‘White Acre’ peas are harvested when fresh to produce an exceptionally high quality frozen pack. However, modern harvesting equipment (axial-flow grain combines) requires that the peas be at the dry stage of maturity for harvesting, and this has resulted in the loss of the fresh green color that is characteristic of a high quality processed product. About 18 years ago, an effort was initiated at the U.S. Vegetable Laboratory in Charleston, SC, to incorporate two genes conditioning persistent green seed traits into a ‘White Acre’ type genetic background. These efforts resulted in the January 2008 release of the new variety ‘WhiteAcre-DG’. ‘WhiteAcre-DG’ is recommended for use by the frozen food industry as a replacement for ‘White Acre’. A major attribute of the new variety is the persistence of the green color of the unharvested dry peas long after optimal harvest time. Dry ‘WhiteAcre-DG’ peas imbibed to restore fresh-harvest seed size and blanched in boiling water for 3 minutes exhibit a near-fresh green color.

Technical Abstract: The USDA has released a high yielding, small-seeded, cream-type southernpea cultivar that has a persistent green seed phenotype conditioned by both the green cotyledon gene (gc) and the green testa gene (gt). The new cultivar, named ‘WhiteAcre-DG’, can be harvested at the dry-pod stage of maturity without loss of the pea’s fresh green color. It was developed as a replacement ‘White Acre’. WhiteAcre-DG was developed using a pedigree breeding procedure that utilized ‘White Acre’ (WA), ‘Mississippi Silver’ (MS), ‘Freezegreen’ (FG), and ‘Bettergreen’ (BG) as parental lines. ‘WhiteAcre-DG’ originated as a bulk of an F10 [F5 {((MS x WA) x WA) x F4 (WA x FG)} x F7 {WA X BG}] population grown in 2001. ‘White Acre’ was utilized in four of the crosses. ‘WhiteAcre-DG’ plants are similar in appearance to ‘White Acre’ plants. A typical dry pod is fairly straight, 13 to 14 cm long, and contains 15 to 16 peas. Fresh ‘WhiteAcre-DG’ peas exhibit an ovate to globose shape, similar to ‘White Acre’ peas. The dry peas have a smooth seed coat, and are smaller than those of ‘White Acre’ (6.7 grams vs. 8.6 grams per 100 peas, respectively). The results of five replicated field tests conducted over a three year period (2005 through 2007) at Charleston, SC, indicate that ‘WhiteAcre-DG’ and ‘White Acre’ yields are comparable. ‘WhiteAcre-DG’ is recommended for use by the frozen food industry.