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Okra Varieties Vary in Pod Shear Force Jim E. Wyatt and Emily W. Gatch Okra pods are edible for a relatively short time after which the pods become too tough and fibrous for consumption. This study was conducted to determine if okra cultivars differ in rate of pod development to identify cultivars that produce large pods with lower shear strength. Eleven okra cultivars and hybrids were planted on May 14, 2003. Plots were over seeded and plants were thinned to an in-row spacing of about 1 fr. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with four reps. Harvest began on July 7. To obtain pods of known maturity, flowers were tagged on the day of anthesis(DOA) and pods were harvested at on day intervals for four days beginning at DOA + 4. Shear strength was measured on a Model T -1200-G Texture Test System using a Model CS-1 Standart Shear-Compression Cell with 10 blades. If pods were over 2 ½ inches long, the proximal 2 ½ inches were used for shear measurements. ‘North and South’ and ‘Cajun Delight’ had the highest yields in the test (Table1). ‘Star of David’, ‘Clemson spineless’ and ;Clemson Spineless 80' had the largest pods. In general, ‘Star of David’ and ‘Silver Queen’ had pods with the lowest shear force and required the least pot removal force. Table 1. Pod yield and mean pod weight, shear force, and removal ratings on 11 okra cultivars and hybrids.
Z Day of anthesis + 4, +5, +6, and +7 succeeding days.Y subjective rating on ease of pod removal at DOA +6: 1=pod snamp off easily; 5=pdo requires cuttingX Means followed by the same letter are not significantly different, Duncan’s multiple range test (P# 0.05). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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