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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Corvallis, Oregon » Horticultural Crops Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #182002
Title: ‘BLACK PEARL’ THORNLESS TRAILING BLACKBERRY

Author
item Finn, Chad
item YORGEY, B - OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
item STRIK, B - OREGON STATE UNIVERITY
item Martin, Robert
item QIAN, M - OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/18/2005
Publication Date: 12/1/2005
Citation: Finn, C.E., Yorgey, B.M., Strik, B.C., Martin, R.R., Qian, M. 2005. 'Black pearl' thornless trailing blackberry. HortScience. 40:2179-2181.

Interpretive Summary: ‘Marion’ is currently the most important blackberry (Rubus L.) cultivar in the world and it is the predominant cultivar grown for the processed fruit market. While ‘Marion’ produces outstanding quality fruit for processing, the plants are thorny. When ‘Marion’ is machine harvested, thorns can end up in the product, which can lead to a poor product, and, more significant in an economic sense, lawsuits. As a result, a primary priority for the breeding program has been the development of cultivars that are thornless, machine harvestable, and retain the excellent processing characteristics of ‘Marion’. Three thornless blackberry cultivars with these qualities are being released simultaneously: ‘Black Pearl’, ‘Black Diamond’ and ‘Nightfall’. ‘Black Pearl’ is a thornless trailing blackberry from the U.S. Department of Agriculture- Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) breeding program in Corvallis, OR released in cooperation with the Oregon State University Agricultural Experiment Station and the Washington State University Agricultural Research Center. ‘Black Pearl’ is thornless, adapted to machine harvesting and has yield and processed fruit quality very similar to ‘Marion’.

Technical Abstract: The U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station and the Washington Agricultural Research Center have released 'Black Pearl' a thornless (botanically termed spineless) trailing blackberry for the processing market. 'Black Pearl' was selected in Corvallis, OR in 1995 from a cross of ORUS 1117-11 and ORUS 1122-1 and tested as ORUS 1380-1. ORUS 1117-11 is a thornless selection with a diverse background in which ‘Marion’ figures prominently. ORUS 1122-1 was a very promising thorny selection that had one parent in common with ‘Marion’. 'Black Pearl' has been evaluated in blind panels by industry representatives as processed individually quick frozen (IQF) and pureed products. As an IQF fruit, 'Black Pearl' was ranked better than ‘Marion’, ‘Silvan’, and ‘Waldo’ for color, appearance, and seediness and it was ranked similar to ‘Marion’, but better than ‘Silvan’ and ‘Waldo’, for flavor and “overall quality”. As a pureed product, 'Black Pearl' was ranked similarly to ‘Silvan’, ‘Waldo’ and ‘Marion’ for aroma, flavor, color and “overall quality”. The combination of input from these panels and other informal evaluations suggests that 'Black Pearl' will produce an excellent processed product. As with ‘Marion’, 'Black Pearl' is not expected to be well suited to the wholesale fresh market as it is too soft.'Black Pearl' is outstanding because it compare favorably to ‘Marion’ for its plant, yield, and fruit characteristics in the field and it appears to produce a similar quality processed product. 'Black Pearl' is recommended for trial in areas where trailing blackberries can be successfully grown.