Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Plant material is basic ingredient other than extract,...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-23
2002-07-16
Weier, Anthony J. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Plant material is basic ingredient other than extract,...
C426S093000, C426S629000, C426S632000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06419976
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to foodstuffs and snack foods that derive from distinct bean varieties of
Phaseolus vulgaris
L that are capable of popping.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The following is a discussion of the relevant art, none of which is admitted to be prior art to the appended claims.
Healthy, minimally processed snack foods such as dried fruits and roasted or toasted nuts and cereals can have a positive impact on the average person's diet and are an important and growing segment of the U.S. food industry. The development of toasted (not fried) snack foods from grain legumes are particularly desirable because these foods are naturally low in fat, and high in dietary fiber, protein, folic acid, and other nutrients.
“Nuñas” are a class of common beans found in the Andean region of South America. On heating, nuñas pop or expand, producing a toasted, soft-textured edible product. Nuñas are traditionally popped by rapidly heating them in a skillet with little or no oil (Zimmerer, 1992,
Mountain Research and Dev.
12:47-61). Nuñas are presently cultivated in traditional farming systems as a climbing intercrop with maize (
Zea mays
L) by farmers in isolated pockets of Peru and Bolivia. Nuñas are adapted to cool, wet tropical highland areas, from 1,800 m to more than 2,800 m in elevation, and require 210 to 280 days to mature (Singh, 1989,
Econ. Botany
43:39-57).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention concerns a type of common bean (
Phaseolus vulgaris
L.) that rapidly expands (or “pops”) upon heating, producing a toasted food which is softer in texture than a corn nut. In addition to being a tasty snack food item, “popping” beans could also have quality attributes useful to food processors, as for example, for energy-efficient preparation of “quick-cook” beans. The bean plants of the present invention possess early maturity, non-climbing growth habit, synchronous fruiting, photoperiod insensitivity and produce beans that possess the popping trait. In addition, the present invention concerns methods for producing such bean plants, and the popped bean product.
One advantage of the present invention is that the claimed popping bean varieties allow for high yields and economic production in the United States. The bean plants of the present invention can grow in the major bean growing regions in the United States including Idaho, North Dakota, Colorado, Michigan, Texas, California, and New York, i.e. any location where common beans (e.g., pinto, kidneys, small white, navy, etc.) are grown. Furthermore, the plants are capable of growth in any analogous climate worldwide.
The presently available accessions of nuñas will not produce grain under field conditions in the United States due to their late maturity (greater than 200 days) and extreme sensitivity to photoperiod. They do not flower when daylengths are about 12½ hours or longer. These factors cause the plant to flower too late to produce grain before the onset of cold weather in the Fall. Furthermore, the aggressive climbing growth habit and asynchronous fruiting makes them unsuitable for mechanized farming and once-over harvesting as is practiced in the United States.
In a first aspect, the invention features a bean plant of the species
Phaseolus vulgaris
which exhibits the phenotypic characteristics of early maturity, bush type growth habit, synchronous fruiting, photoperiod insensitivity, and which produces a popping bean.
Days to maturity are measured from planting to harvest. By “early maturity” it is meant that the plant reaches the dry pods stage in less than 200 days, and preferably in 90 days (+ or −5 days).
By “bush type growth habit” is meant compact in growth. Growth can either be determinant or indeterminant. In bush determinant growth the terminals of the plant end in reproductive organs (pods) and the plants generally attain a height of approximately 0.5 meters. In bush indeterminant growth the terminals remain vegetative and plants typically attain a height no greater than 0.75 meters. Bush type growth habit is in contrast to the characteristic aggressive climbing (twining) indeterminant growth displayed by nuñas, which are typically grown as intercrop with maize and often reach the top of the maize plant. Such plants often reach a height of 3 meters. Because these plants continue to grow, flowering and podding appear together. Nuñas begin fruiting at higher nodal positions on the mainstem and branches and there are more vegetative branches than plants that exhibit bush determinant or bush indeterminant growth. The plants of claimed invention do not exhibit flowers and dry pods together under normal growing conditions (i.e., when pod setting is normal).
By “synchronous fruiting” is meant that an individual plant produces a single flush of flowers of about two to three weeks duration followed by pod filling and uniform pod maturation. Concentrated flowering and fruiting periods allows for efficient “once-over” harvesting of the bean crop.
By “photoperiod insensitivity” is meant that the photoperiod response with respect to reproductive development of the plants is essentially eliminated. The plants are day neutral and can flower in day lengths longer than 13 hours.
By “popping bean” is meant a bean that changes texture and volume when subject to heat within a given range of moisture, time and pressure. A popped bean has a visible expansion in size and a detectable softening in texture compared with an unpopped bean. The conditions necessary to produce popping are known to those who practice the art. Beans can be popped by a variety of methods including: frying in oil, exposure to hot air, rotating on a hot sand bed, or rotary infrared. The beans produced by the plants of the present invention exhibit popping that is at least comparable to that exhibited by nuñas.
In preferred aspects: early maturity is a growing season of no greater than 100 days in which the plant reaches the dry pod stage; the photoperiod insensitivity is the ability to flower when daylengths are greater than or equal to 13 hours; and the bush type growth habit encompasses a height of less than 0.75 meter.
In a second aspect the invention features plant parts derived from a plant of claims
1
-
4
including leaves, stem, pollen, plant cells and seed.
In a third aspect, the invention cultivating the plant of claims
1
-
4
.
In a fourth aspect, the invention features a seed produced from the plant of claims
1
-
4
.
In a fifth aspect, the invention features a bean seed of the species
Phaseolus vulgaris
capable of germinating into a plant which exhibits early maturity, bush type growth habit, synchronous fruiting, photoperiod insensitivity, and which produces a popping bean.
In a sixth aspect, the invention features a bean seed produced by a cross of a nuña accession and a
Phaseolus vulgaris
cultivar exhibiting the characteristics of early maturity, bush type growth habit, synchronous fruiting, photoperiod insensitivity.
In preferred embodiments the nuña a accession is selected from the group consisting of accession numbers W6 4296, W6 4297, W6 4298, PI 298820, PI 298822, PI 298824, PI 316013, PI 316014, PI 316016, PI 316017, PI 316018, PI 316019, PI 316020, PI 316021, PI 316022, PI 316023, PI 316024, PI 316025, PI 316029, PI 316030, PI 316031, PI 316032, PI 390771, PI 390775, PI 511763, PI 511767, PI 531862, PI 577677, PI 577678, PI 577679, PI 577680, PI 577682, and W6 18720; the
Phaseolus vulgaris
cultivar is selected from the group consisting of small white, small red, navy, dark red kidney, light red kidney, black or black turtle, pink, pinto, cranberry, and canario.
In a seventh aspect the invention features a bean seed produced by a first cross of a first nuña accession and a
Phaseolus vulgaris
cultivar exhibiting the characteristics of early maturity, bush type growth habit, synchronous fruiting, and photoperiod insensitivity; a second cross of a second nuña accession and the
Phaseolus vulgaris
cultivar exhibiting the characteristics of early maturity, bush type growth
Ehlers Jeffrey D.
Sterner Mark H.
Brobeck Phleger & Harrison LLP
Inland Empire Foods, Inc.
Weier Anthony J.
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