Despite leaps in Arkansas blackberry breeding over the past few decades, there is still room for advancement.
As the principal investigator for a new U.S. Department of Agriculture grant, Margaret Worthington, associate professor of fruit breeding and genetics for the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, will use new genomic tools and novel approaches for improving flavor to support her efforts in propelling the largest public-sector breeding program for fresh-market blackberries in the United States.
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture's blackberry breeding program has developed and patented 43 fresh-market blackberry cultivars, including many combining erect growth habit, thornlessness, and improved shipping ability. The first primocane-fruiting blackberry cultivars, which produce fruit on first-year canes, were also developed in the breeding program.
Worthington said that even with the rise in blackberry consumption and sales, inconsistent flavor is considered a barrier to industry growth. Photo: U of A System Division of Agriculture
The USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture will administer the $650,000 Agriculture and Food Research Initiative grant over the next four years. In addition to more data from consumer panels, the grant also provides funding to conduct studies that identify genomic variants statistically associated with a particular trait, known as genomewide association mapping.
Worthington said that even with the rise in blackberry consumption and sales, inconsistent flavor is considered a barrier to industry growth.
The USDA-NIFA grant will support investigations that tie in the consumer sensory panel data with the different flavor volatiles found in the blackberry genotypes most favored by consumers, which is where a gas chromatography-olfactometry-mass spectrometer plays a role. This instrument can be used to analyze the chemical components of blackberry flavors, including specific flavor and aroma compounds called "volatiles."
New genomic tools and novel approaches for improving flavor will support efforts in propelling the largest public-sector breeding program for fresh-market blackberries in the U.S. Photo: U of A System Division of Agriculture
Although the basic tastes of blackberries — sweetness, sourness, and bitterness — impact their flavor, volatile aroma compounds are also responsible for typical aromas and aromatic flavors of blackberries, Worthington noted.
Worthington is teaming up with food science researchers Renee Threlfall, research scientist of horticultural postharvest/quality, and Scott Lafontaine, assistant professor of flavor chemistry; Samuel B. Fernandes, assistant professor of agricultural statistics and quantitative genetics, with the experiment station's Center for Agricultural Data Analytics; and Ph. D student Katelyn Lust-Moore.
Worthington noted the collaboration includes complimentary fields and tools. Lafontaine operates the Shimadzu gas chromatography-olfactometry-mass spectrometer that evaluates samples for chemical analysis. Fernandes combines computer science advances with agriculture to help plant breeders, growers, and consumers.
The research is supported by USDA grant number 2023-6703-39448.
For more information:
John Lovett
U of A System Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station
Tel.: +1 (479) 763-5929
[email protected]
https://aaes.uada.edu