World Vegetable Center

About: World Vegetable Center is a nonprofit organization based out in Tainan City, Taiwan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Agriculture. The organization has 294 authors who have published 364 publications receiving 8785 citations. The organization is also known as: AVRDC, Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center.

Conventional and Molecular Breeding Tools for Accelerating Genetic Gain in Faba Bean (Vicia Faba L.)

Abstract: Faba bean is a cool-season grain legume crop, which is grown worldwide for food and feed. Despite a decrease in area under faba bean in the past, the iInterest in growing faba bean is increasing globally due to its high seed protein content and its excellent ecological service. The crop is, however, exposed to diverse biotic and abiotic stresses causing unstable, low grain yield. Although sources of resistance to main diseases, such as ascochyta blight (Ascochyta fabae Speg.), rust (Uromyces viciae-fabae (Pers.) Schroet.), chocolate spot (Botrytis fabae Sard.) and gall disease (Olpidium Physioderma viciae), have been identified, their resistance is only partial and cannot prevent grain yield losses without agronomical practices. Tightly associated DNA markers for host plant resistance genes are needed to enhance the level of resistance. Less progress has been made for abiotic stresses. Different breeding methods are proposed, but until now line breeding, based on the pedigree method, is the dominant practice in breeding programs. Nonetheless, the low seed multiplication coefficient and the requirement for growing under insect-proof enclosures to avoid outcrossing hampers breeding, along with the lack of tools such as double haploidy system and cytoplasmic male sterility. This reduces breeding population size and speed of breeding hence the chances of capturing rare combinations of favourable alleles. Availability and use of the DNA markers such as vicine-convicine (vc-) nd and herbicide tolerance in breeding programs have encouraged breeders and given confidence in marker assisted selection. Closely linked QTL for several biotic and abiotic stress tolerance are available and their verification and conversion in breeder friendly platform will enhance the selection process. Recently, genomic selection and speed breeding techniques together with genomics have come within reach to accelerate the genetic gains in faba bean. Advancements in genomic resources with other breeding tools, methods and platforms will enable to accelerate the breeding process for enhancing genetic gain in this species.

Developing pheromone traps and lures for Maruca vitrata in Taiwan.

Abstract: The larvae of the legume pod borer, Maruca vitrata (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), cause severe damage on economically important legume crops in the tropics. The female moth produces volatile components to attract males for mating. The so-called sex pheromones are species-specific multi-component blends and are used as lures in crop protection for pest monitoring. Their chemical identification and ratios is critical to design efficient lures. The following sex pheromone components for M. vitrata have been described: (E, E)-10,12-hexadecadienal (major compound), (E, E)-10,12-hexadecadienol and (E)-10-hexadecenal (minor components). The ratio of 100:5:5 of these components was the most attractive in trapping experiments in Benin, Africa. According to this ratio, a synthetic pheromone lure was developed for commercial use. But the commercially available blend was not attractive in field trapping experiments in other regions of sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. These findings lead to the conclusion that there is a possible polymorphism in the blend composition of the M. vitrata sex pheromone among populations from different geographical regions. In Taiwan, M. vitrata moths were never caught efficiently by the commercially available pheromone lures and traps. This paper reports trap and lure optimization experiments for effective trapping of Taiwanese M. vitrata moths in different leguminous crops.

Varietal and harvesting stage variation in the content of carotenoids, ascorbic acid and tocopherols in the fruit of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.)

Abstract: Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) is an important market vegetable in the tropics. The objectives of this study were to (1) conduct a preliminary evaluation of genetic diversity in bitter gourd flesh (without seeds) for phytonutrient (carotenoid, ascorbic acid and tocopherol) contents with the aim to understand which phytonutrients might be increased through breeding, (2) assess the association between fruit traits and phytonutrient contents and (3) evaluate the effect of the fruit harvest stage on phytonutrient contents. A total of 17 diverse bitter gourd entries of various commercial market types were evaluated for fruit traits and phytonutrient contents for 2 years. Significant differences (P= 0.05) among the entries were detected for total carotenoids, total tocopherols, dry matter and fruit traits. Mean total carotenoid contents of the entries ranged from 10 to 1335 μg/100 g fresh weight in year 1 and 10 to 1185 μg/100 g fresh weight in year 2. Mean ascorbic acid contents were 69 and 61 mg/100 g fresh weight in year 1 and year 2, respectively. Total tocopherol contents among the entries ranged from 480 to 1345 and 445 to 2145 μg/100 g fresh weight in year 1 and year 2, respectively. Total carotenoid and ascorbic acid contents were highest at 12 days after fruit set (DAFS), but total tocopherol contents were highest from 14 to 20 DAFS. A 100 g portion of bitter gourd fruit can meet 190, 17 and 8% of the recommended daily allowances of vitamin C, vitamin E and vitamin A, respectively, for adults.