Eating fresh, frozen, or canned peas is eating a future seed… a plant part in which the plant puts all its energy to build stored energy for the survival of the species… Starch, proteins, and lipids to feed the embryo after germination.
The sugar to starch pathway is a big component of the seed construction. When we decide to harvest a fresh pea, we are looking for the best compromise between the tenderness, and the sweetness of an organ which tries as soon as possible to build a dry hard seed.
What if we could slow down the sugar to starch pathway, or even stop it? So, the harvest window could be wider? Or, the pea could stay sweeter for a longer time?
This is the idea behind “double wrinkled” or starchless peas. Natural crosses or mutations have made this possible. In a comparison with sweet corn and super sweet corn…
A measure of pea sweetness is AIS (Alcohol Insoluble Solids) which measures the starch (plus some proteins and minerals) content of fresh peas, and gives, by deduction, the level of sugar left in the berry.
Certain frozen pea retailers around the world are buying “lots” according to their low AIS values. It can then become an official characteristic of quality.
In the next charts and graphs, AIS values are given as a comparison and characteristics of different pea genetics are shown. Breeding can enhance the quality of the final product consumed at the family table, and also help in maintaining a better harvest quality as weather and environmental characteristics can constrain the processing companies at the time of harvest.
Crites Seed, Inc. is a seed company with its base in Idaho (Northwestern USA) with almost 100 years of dedication to the seed business and especially pea production for human consumption.
With very strong farmer roots, in a vision to stay independent and service oriented, the company is using partnerships and modern technology to propose varieties with higher final product quality, disease resistance and enhanced agronomic characteristics. With the target of allowing the use of less input in the farming practices.
One of Crites’ Breeding visions is to select in the region of use. Through its research partnership with Townsend Seed in New Zealand and marketing partnership with Lefroy Valley in New Zealand and Australia, the company is convinced that it can deliver better varieties for those regions.
Photo above: Pea trials grown in a McCains commercial pea crop located in Hawkes Bay
A few statements regarding double sweet peas:
· Double sweet peas (2Sw) are clearly better than the Wrinkled pea check, in the same “terroir”. They are at the same sweetness level than the best Wrinkled types (Waverex, Avola/Spring);
· Double sweet peas (2Sw) are improving the overall quality of our pea portfolio
· Double sweet peas (2Sw) are widening the harvest window. The evolution of TR is not slower, but the quality of the berries has an extended window.
· On average, 1% less AIS, allows to harvest at 10 points higher TR (keeping the same eating quality) and gain 1.5 t per ha at harvest. Ie AIS of 13 is a TR of 125 and an AIS of 14 is a TR of 135
