Agronomic Performance in Low Phytic Acid Field Peas.

Field pea is a pulse that delivers high protein content, slowly digestible starch and fiber, and many vitamins and minerals, including iron. Naturally occurring plant phytic acid molecules bind iron, lowering its availability for absorption during digestion. Two low phytic acid () pea lines, 1-2347-144 and 1-150-81, developed by our group had 15% lower yield and 6% lower seed weight relative to their progenitor cultivar. Subsequently, we crossed the two lines and two cultivars, and derived 19 promising pea breeding lines; here we document their agronomic performance based on 10 replicated field trials in Saskatchewan. Seventeen of these lines yielded greater than 95% of the check mean (associated cultivars) and 16 were above 98% of the check mean for 1000 seed weight. The 19 lines showed 27 to 55% lower phytic acid concentration than the check mean. Iron concentrations were similar in all the lines and cultivars, yet the Caco-2 human cell culture assay revealed 14 of the 19 lines had 11 to 55% greater iron bioavailability than check means. Thus, a single round of plant breeding has allowed for closing the gap in performance of low phytic acid pea.