| September 28, 2006
Testing of Condiment Mustard Varieties
for Production in Canada
By: Contributed by:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Each year individuals, organizations, companies
and institutions involved in the development, production, processing
and marketing of varieties of grain crops in western Canada, come
together for discussions at an Annual Meeting. This group discusses
which new breeding lines will be recommended for registration
and production in Canada and provides this recommendation to the
Variety Registration Office (VRO) of the Plant Products Division,
Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). This process has been
going on for many years, with meetings organized on a rotational
basis between the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Over the years, the face of Canadian agriculture has changed dramatically
and this collective group has evolved its testing procedures and
organizational structure in response to these and other changes.
The first official testing of condiment mustard
varieties or breeding lines adapted for western Canada began in
approximately 1963, using the procedures of the Expert Committee
on Grains. Forty-three years later, in 2006, the testing, evaluation
and exchange of information relevant to the development of improved
cultivars of condiment mustard still continues using procedures
approved by the members of the Prairie Recommending Committee
for Oilseeds. The table below summarizes the data generated from
seven years of testing varieties of the three types of condiment
mustard produced in western Canada.
Yield is measured on seed harvested from field
plots (approximately 80 ft2 or 7.5 m2 area) with each entry replicated
four times to improve the accuracy of the observation on the breeding
lines and varieties. Although the seeding rate is similar to that
of a producer, the yield is determined on the seed harvested from
maintained research plots. The actual kg/ha determination does
not always represent the equivalent yield achieved in a producer's
field. Therefore, the yield relative to the standard or check
cultivar is presented.
Seed size is identified as an issue of concern
during the milling of condiment mustard and is also important
to producers in the cleaning of seed and seedling establishment.
New methods are being developed to assess the uniformity of seed
size, but for the summary table, seed weight of 1000 seeds is
reported.
Fixed oil or oil content of the seed is a criteria
for assessment of a condiment mustard breeding line or variety.
Sinapis alba, or yellow mustard, is a low oil content crop compared
to the Brassica juncea species producing the brown or oriental
types of mustard. The mustard industry prefers this relatively
low oil content of both species of condiment mustard for processing.
The composition of the oil is kept at current levels of erucic
acid and the other long-chain fatty acids, to give the desired
quality of the mustard product (R.K. Downey and G. Rakow, Harvest
of Gold).
Protein content is included in the evaluation
of mustard lines and the data reflects the inverse relationship
between protein oil and oil content. Protein content of the seed
becomes relevant for the purposes of processing when the seed
is used as an ingredient in prepared meats.
The hot principle defines the condiment mustard
product. When crushed seed comes in contact with moisture, the
glucosinolate hydrolyses to produce the "heat" sensation
in the mouth (J.S. Hemingway, The Mustard Species: Condiment and
Food Ingredient Use and Potential as Oilseed Crops). While there
is genetic variation for glucosinolate content, the hot, arid,
climate of the Canadian prairies enables producers to grow mustard
seed with high levels of glucosinolates. The hot principle for
the yellow mustard, S. alba is derived from a different glucosinlate
from that of the B. juncea sources of mustard types. Sinapis alba
contains predominantly 4-hydroxybenzyl glucosinolate (sinalbin)
while Brassica juncea types of condiment mustard contain predominantly
2-propenyl (allyl) glucosinolate (sinagrin) which hydrolyses to
produce a volatile oil with strong pungency.
Mucilage content was recently included in the
evaluation of mustard varieties as an important (processing and
quality of product) characteristic for certain preparations of
mustard. In addition to the emulsifying and suspension properties
of mucilage, it is reported that mucilage may also give mustard
its superior drought resistance (Balke and Diosday, Food Research
International, 33(5) 347-56, 2000).
Seed colour is measured to assess degree of
yellowness or brownness, of the seed coat of yellow or oriental
mustard, and brown mustard respectively. Using reflectance-based
methodology, a higher the (negative) value indicates brighter
yellow of the seed coat while the brown seed colour imparts values
closer to 0 or 1.
Distinct green seed and chlorophyll content
are also assessed during the evaluation of condiment mustard.
The same arid prairie climate that may grow beautiful coloured
seed with high glucosinolate content, does not always give producers
dry conditions at harvest time and early frosts may "fix"
the cholorophyll content. This results in less-than-desirable
quality of mustard seed for the processors (taste, color, oil
and protein content) but it also causes economic losses for the
producers through dockage. Genetic variation exists for these
two traits and developers of germplasm select against elevated
levels of green seed.
Current varieties of yellow mustard are not
significantly different from each other for the traits of height
and maturity, however, there is slight variation among the varieties
of Brassica juncea.
When reading the data in the summary table,
statistical comparisons are made within the species of condiment
mustard. Thus, comparisons are made between S. alba or yellow
mustard entries and comparisons are made between B. juncea, oriental
and brown mustard entries. S.E.D. is the standard error of the
difference between the average (mean) values for the traits evaluated
and is used to calculate the F-value to determine the level of
differences between the lines tested. The notation "ns"
indicates that these differences are not statistically significant.
Station-years is a term used to indicate the number of locations
where the testing was done (one field test site in one year, at
one location equals one station-year).
< Back to main
Latest News & Research page
|
