Perfect British Columbia highbush blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum L.)

Courtesy of Bremner Foods

 

Got your attention with that title, eh?

Well... ummh... how about berry breeding?

This might be as close to “sexual content” as we get from The Berry Doctor's Journal,

but it's worthwhile considering what berry plant breeders do

at this time of year when northern climate berry fields are dormant.....

to prepare for our fresh berry needs next summer!

First, why breed?

Answer: To meet demands of various markets for berries.

For example, strawberries are in demand year round in North America

so need to be bred for repeated fruiting with high quality taste, appearance and durability

of qualities for shipping over long distances, usually from California.

Large, plump, brightly colored berries may be best for the fresh market, like these

whereas smaller, darker, more flavorful berries may be specifically bred for

taste and color in ice cream, jams, pies and yogurt.

Five Fun Facts About Berry Breeding

1. A “cultivar” or cultivated variety is a cultivated plant that has received a species name under the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (commonly known as the "Cultivated Plant Code"). For this, it must be distinct from other cultivars and it must be possible to propagate it reliably in a manner prescribed for that particular cultivar by a breeder. An example of a species name is Rubus idaeus for red raspberry or Fragaria vesca for strawberry. The goals of a cultivar are many-fold: a) be economical with large yield; b) be easy to pick, e.g., making brambleberry vines (raspberries, blackberries) less thorny; c) be great tasting with attractive appearance; d) be adaptable to longer growing seasons or multiple fruit bearing per season; e) be pest and disease tolerant; f) maintain quality even after repeated freezing and thawing when in storage.

2. At the beginning of a cultivar process, the berry plant breeder is in control of the marriage between promising plants to make the new cultivar. The breeder interviews growers, processors, and other breeders to decide on characteristics of the parent plants that will assure healthy offspring with optimal features.

3. In the greenhouse, breeders isolate the female parts of the berry plant (flower and ovary), use a bag to secure them from pollen of an adjacent plant, then apply a paintbrush to spread pollen specifically from the male part (anther) of the male parent to the female flower, just like a bee would pollinate a plant from pollen on its legs.

4. Seeds gathered for future experiments need to “experience” winter even when they are in the greenhouse, so they are sunk deep in peat moss and placed in a refrigerator from late Fall to early Spring until the field is ready for planting. To be evaluated completely, a new berry cultivar must be in the field for at least one season to allow judgment about the needed characteristics mentioned in #1 above. Each berry specie has different seasonal requirements for producing usable fruit for additional testing: strawberries, one year; blackberries, 2 years; blueberries, 3-4 years.

5. Now for some discouraging news – only five in 10,000 tests yield interesting cultivar candidates. Two out of 5 are complete failures after field tests, 2 more are considered just “ok” for quality, and one is deemed truly successful. And it will be 10-15 years before that one's commercial record is sufficient to declare it a winner!

The successful one gets promoted around the country and internationally to growers in climates favorable for its commercial success.

This information was gathered during a visit to the US Department of Agriculture

National Clonal Germplasm Repository in Corvallis, Oregon, where public education

and cooperative research with Oregon State University has been going on for 80 years.

Websites: National Clonal Germplasm Repository
Oregon State University Department of Food Science, Research

Previous Fifty Fun Facts Issues

Issue #1 (goji = wolfberry, black raspberry, blackberry, acai)

Issue #2 (cranberry)

Issue #3 (strawberry, grape antioxidants)

Issue #4 (recipes)

Issue #5 (phenolics and flavonoids)

 

Might information like this be of interest to someone you know?

Please suggest a visit to the Berry Doctor Sign-in Page!  Thanks.

See you next time for another round of five from Fifty Fun Facts About Berries!

Dr. Paul
The Berry Doctor