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  • From: "Dr. Chiranjit Parmar" <parmarch@sancharnet.in>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] overlooked fruits
  • Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 07:58:27 +0530

In raspberries, there is a very tasty yellow fruited raspberry, Rubus ellipticus which grows wild in the Himalayan mid-hills.  This is the TASTIEST raspberry I have eaten.  It deserves promotion.
 
There are, of course, some disadvantages like large sized bushes and presence of small thorns, but these problems can be solved by selecting some better strains and developing suitable cultural practices.  Only organized efforts are needed.
 
This Rubus, which is called AAKHE in local language, contain 65 per cent juice which can be extracted just with hand.  The juice has a highly attractive sparkling yellow colour.  The juice contains 16 to 17 per cent total soluble solids out of which 11 per cent are sugars.  It is very tasty and refreshing.
 
These fruits also make an excellent jam.
 
People in India have not cared about this wild growing.  I had made a USAID funded project on the domestication of five potential Himalayan wild fruits in collaboration with Prof. Maxine Thompson in 1991.  The Project could not take off as I left my job with the University.
 
I shall request some enterprising NAFEX members to come forward.  The fruits will start ripening by the end of next month. I shall very gladly supply seeds and other technical information.
 
I am sending a picture of AAKHE as attachment.
 
Very truly yours,
 
Dr.Chiranjit Parmar
Horticultural Consultant of Lesser Known Indian Fruits
www.lesserknownindianplants.com
----- Original Message -----
To: NAFEX
Sent: Sunday, March 19, 2006 7:24 AM
Subject: [NAFEX] overlooked fruits

NAFEX does a lot of work with tree fruits, but it seems like there are some seriously overlooked small fruits. Who, for example, is doing any exploration of wild blueberry species? Blueberries have been in cultivation for less than a century, and there are still several wild species that have a lot of undeveloped potential. There is a little work being done on some of them at some universities, but I know of no private breeders or testers of them. There was a man in Oregon who had collected some large berried selections of Vaccinium ovatum, the evergreen huckleberry, but no one has taken up his work since he died. In the north, there could be more work in selecting lowbush blueberries for cold climates, and here in the west there are some mat forming species. In the latter case, the late Pierre Rotschky of Yacolt, Washington had found some fine specimens, then he passed away before the material was distributed to anyone.
In strawberries, there is still a need to search the wild species for superior forms both for their own use and for breeding new cultivated types.
In red raspberries, we need more material with adaptation to difficult conditions like the southeast US. We've got one crackerjack researcher in Pete Tallman with his work on fall bearing black raspberries, though.
In short, the need for new material is still with us, and NAFEX members should keep in mind the value in watching out for promising wild plants of some of these species.
-Lon Rombough
Grapes, writing, consulting, my book, The Grape Grower, at http://www.bunchgrapes.com Winner of the Garden Writers Association "Best Talent in Writing" award for 2003.


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