Effects of infection of common root rot on protein content, cooking quality and other characters in pea varieties.

Abstract

Pea varieties are known to show a considerable variability in seed yield, protein content, cooking quality and other characters over years and locations. Common root rot, a wide spread soil borne disease of peas in Europe and elsewhere, is a contributing factor in the observed variation in pea yields and pea quality characteristics such as protein content and cooking quality. It interacts with the weather and these factors together constitute important reasons for the variations observed within a single variety in the mentioned characters. The common root rot is, however, in seasons with more moderate deviations from the mean in terms of temperature and precipitation, itself able to constitute the most important source of variation in characteristics of the harvested crop. During the 1980ies and the 1990ies investigations were carried out to study the interactions between common root rot (Aphanomyces euteiches) and peas (Pisum sativum). Seed yield, protein content, cooking quality, hectolitre weight, thousand kernel weight, growing time, duration of flowering time and stem length were all significantly influenced by the fungus.