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Adding Nutrition to Our Diets: One Pepper at a Time

"Seeing how the different maternal plants influence future plant generations, I'd never really seen it through in an actual class, which interested me because my thesis focuses on breeding lettuce."

Hannah Mather is a master's student studying Horticultural Science at the University of Florida. Mather’s Thesis project focuses on breeding lettuce crops resistant to heat stress. Lettuce does not respond well to high heat typically responding to rising temperatures by bolting. Bolting is when leaf crops change from vegetative growth to flowering. Bolting negatively impacts the quality of leafy vegetables resulting in a powerful bitter flavor. Mather’s research led her to take a vegetable breeding course offered by Dr. Bala Rathinasabapathi (Dr. Saba).

Dr, Saba is a professor in the University of Florida department of Horticultural Sciences. One course Dr. Saba leads titled, Genetics and Breeding of Vegetables is the highlight of this article. In this course, Dr. Saba runs a breeding program called, The Better Pepper Project. The breeding program focuses on increasing the novelty and nutrition of peppers entering the Florida market. Students breed the plants through a process called hybridization.

"So the idea is that to develop lots of new varieties, how they are built so that you get nice vegetable, not only for nutrition, but also quality flavor," said Saba.

Western diets are characterized by overconsumption of highly refined fats, saturated fats, processed sugars, and meats. There is also reduced consumption of plant-based foods related to western diets. This diet at first, was mainly observed in the United States, but now it is spreading internationally, leading to an increase in diet-related diseases. According to Aggarwal, western diets are associated with elevated incidence of obesity, cardiovascular-related death, and cancer. To improve diets where little plant-based foods are being consumed, it is necessary to increase the nutritional value that each food packs individually.

Mather was given the task by Dr, Saba to breed peppers from two lines of purple pepper parents grown in the Teaching Farm greenhouse located on the University of Florida campus. The cross between the purple peppers is meant to improve the nutrient quality in the resulting pepper. The expected outcome is directly related to the pigment of the pepper. The process is meant to improve the nutrient quality of peppers.

Many healthy elements of vegetables are included in their pigments. Nutritionists recommend people have as many colors on their dinner plates as possible due to pigments in food. Different vitamins and minerals are associated with different colors of food. Blue and purple fruits and vegetables get their color from phytochemicals called anthocyanins. These foods often contain proanthocyanidins, flavonoids, vitamin A, and ellagic acids. In order to cross the two parent plants, Mather removes all the petals and male parts from a flower to cross with another plant. This part of the process takes place before the flower buds are open and pollen production has not begun. Pollen from the other pepper variety is then used to pollinate the other flower.

To paraphrase Mather, though there are some challenges involved with traditional breeding, it is important to improve crops for production and consumption. Both Dr. Saba's and Hannah Mather's work in vegetable breeding are making significant steps in improving the vegetables that reach your plate.

Hello, I’m Moriah Williams, a master’s student studying organic and sustainable crop production at the Gulf-Coast Research and Education Center.