Author
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STOREY, J. - TEXAS A&M UNIVERISTY |
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SISTRUNK, LAURENCE - TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY |
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Grauke, Larry |
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Thompson, Tommy |
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Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/1995 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Four cultivars of pecan [Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.)K. Koch] were studied for 3 years to determine if variations in yield influence fatty acid composition of kernels. Trees used in the study are part of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service Historical Block, a test orchard planted in randomized block design with four blocks, having one single-tree replication per block and containing 36 cultivars. Four trees of each of four cultivars (`Cheyenne', `Mohawk', `Pawnee', and `Osage') were used in this test. Trees were in their 5th to 7th leaf from grafting and showed patterns of increasing yield over time for each cultivar. `Osage' was earliest to mature nuts each year and produced nuts with the lowest linoleic acid content. `Cheyenne' was latest to mature nuts and had nuts with the highest linoleic acid content. Oleic acid composition varied with yield in `Osage' and `Pawnee'; as yield (kilogram/square decimeter trunk area) increased, oleic acid content decreased. Kernel color, as determined by a Hunter LabScan 5100 Spectrocolorimeter, varied in relation to fatty acid composition for `Osage' and `Pawnee'; as oleic acid content increased, kernel lightness decreased. High oleic acid content and light kernel color are associated with high-quality pecans. The pattern of decreasing oleic acid content associated with increasing kernel lightness raises questions concerning the role kernel color evaluation should play in selecting high-quality pecan cultivars |
