NEW VARIETIES TESTED FOR CONCENTRATE

- Fall 1994 "Update" Newsletter Article -

NEW VARIETIES TESTED FOR CONCENTRATE
Researchers will evaluate "Concord-type" hybrid for production potential in the San Joaquin Valley
From CATI Publication #941001
Copyright © 1994. All rights reserved.

Lifestyle changes of American and international consumers are creating new markets for agricultural products from California's San Joaquin Valley.

One of those products is grape juice concentrate, a commodity that formerly had only limited applications but now is gaining popularity both in the U.S. and abroad.

"With the current emphasis on Ôhealthy foods,' consumers are drinking more fruit juices and consuming more foods sweetened with concentrate, as in bakery and cereal products," noted CSU, Fresno chemistry professor and researcher Barry Gump. A simple comparison of supermarket shelves now and five or seven years ago reveals that an increasing share of space holds drinks and other products sweetened with fruit juice.

Why the change? "Health conscious" consumers, Gump notes - consumers who want less sugar and fat in their diets, are noting "natural" product ingredients and making selections based on them, sometimes even at higher prices, to satisfy new lifestyle priorities.

U.S. Department of Agriculture figures verify the trend. For example, grape concentrate consumption in the U.S. rose from 682,000 tons in 1985 to more than 1.3 million tons in 1992. During that same period California production of concentrate nearly doubled from 350,000 tons in 1985 to 652,000 tons in 1992.

And there is opportunity for greater production and sales from the San Joaquin Valley, Gump notes. For example, of the 1.3 million tons of concentrate consumed in the U.S. in 1992, 330,000 tons, or about 25 percent, were imported.

The problem facing San Joaquin Valley growers is that the premium grape for concentrate is the red Concord, a variety that grows better in cooler areas such as the states of New York and Washington.

"It would enhance grower profitability if a ÔConcord- type' hybrid were adapted for production in the valley," Gump said. And that is one of the areas he and co-researcher Keith Striegler are exploring. In a multi-year project started last year, Gump and Striegler are pursuing methods to enhance California concentrate production.

The researchers have established an experimental "concentrate vineyard" on the CSU, Fresno university farm, where so far six new cultivars have been either planted or grafted onto existing stock. Several of the "advanced selection" cultivars have been provided by the Fresno office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's grape breeding program.

Different cultural practices will by tried and evaluated, with the objective of lowering production costs and improving yield. Gump will oversee evaluation of processing characteristics and quality of the new concentrates produced.

Typically in the past, the price given to growers for grapes for concentrate has been lower than prices for raisin, wine or table grapes. That is partly due to the fact that the fruit juice concentrate market is dominated by apple juice concentrate, and grape concentrate is less in demand. But Striegler hopes that will change.

"We're looking for that ideal variety," Striegler said. "Our overall goal is to find a new variety and production techniques that will allow a grower to plant a vineyard specifically for the concentrate market."

Data collection from on-campus research plots is scheduled to begin in the 1996 season.

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