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PA 2010 #04

TESTING FOR BITTERNESS IN ALBUS LUPIN SEEDTrevor Bray, Pulse Australia South-East, 0428 606 886

Summary

• The Australian albus industry relies on continuing to be able to supply 100% sweet seed.

• It is important that growers annually bitterness test all grain traded or kept for seed.

• Due to closure of the Eastern Australia Albus Breeding Program, Industry and Investment NSW is nolonger conducting bitterness seed testing for albus lupins.

• The bitterness seed test is now available through Futari Grain Technology Services, Narrabri.

• There is a zero percent industry recommended sowing threshold for bitterness contamination in seed.

• NSW albus lupin traders are stringently UV testing grain received from growers.

The export human consumption market for albuslupins is around 30,000 to 40,000 tonnes annually.The price premiums offered to growers abovedomestic feed markets are very valuable. Our abilityto continue to supply sweet seed to this market andto the growing domestic market will ensure the futureviability of the albus industry. High alkaloid levelsmake seed taste bitter, less palatable and the seedmay be toxic to humans and livestock. Alkaloids inseed have been removed from albus lupins by plantbreeding to allow the grain to be eaten by humansand suitable to be fed to animals.

Over time the bitter gene has escaped into the older,public sweet albus varieties and is now causing lowlevel contamination. This is due to the albus lupinsability to cross-pollinate, with foraging honeybeesbeing the main vector. Bees are known to forage 2-3kms and can carry pollen between plants within thatrange. If a bitter-contaminated albus crop (orvolunteers from a previous crop) is grown within 2 kmof a sweet crop, there is a serious risk that pollen willbe transferred resulting in contamination. The bittergene is a wild form with more fitness, and producingmore seeds. Once introduced into a sweet crop, it willincrease the bitterness level significantly with eachseason grown. Commercially available seed gradingequipment is not able to remove bitter seed, sopurchasing new seed is the only option, once bitterseed is identified in a seed line.

If bitter seeds approach a frequency of 1%, then theaverage alkaloid level will exceed the maximumthreshold acceptable for human and animalconsumption (200 mg/kg seed). It is important thatthe whole albus industry adopts an alkaloidmanagement strategy to ensure that anycontaminated grain is not retained as seed, anddoesn’t compromise the efforts of neighbours and theindustry as a whole.

Industry-wide plan to eradicate bitternessIn order to preserve Australia’s reputation as asupplier of 100% sweet (low-alkaloid) albus lupins,bitterness in commercial crops is monitored on anannual basis. This is being achieved through the useof a quick seed test by traders using a ultra-violet(UV) lamp. The UV light causes any bitter seeds tofluoresce pink, making identification easy with atrained eye.

Testing at Wagga Wagga of commercial albus lupinseed samples from the 2005–2009 harvests showedthat contamination remains widespread in NSW, withboth of the old varieties (Kiev-mutant and Ultra) andall regions affected to some degree. In the past threeyears, less than half of all the samples tested hadzero contamination. This emphasises the need forcontinued industry-wide testing.

The release of Luxor and Rosetta has created anopportunity to eradicate bitterness completely withisolation distances and on-farm hygiene to preventthe contamination of these new varieties. However,this cannot be achieved without full support ofgrowers, agronomists and marketers.

Lupin trials being harvested at Wagga in 2005.Photo: David Lucket

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The recommended sowing threshold forbitterness remains at zero for 2010All seed lots intended for sowing in 2010 should betested again the following year. Consultation withindustry, GRDC and Pulse Australia has led to thecontamination threshold for sowing in 2010 remainingat zero (the same since 2005). The aim is to reducethe contamination level over time until the problem iseliminated. The adoption of new, disease-resistant,high-yielding varieties, such as Luxor and Rosetta,will assist this process.

Testing by Futari Grain Technology ServicesDue to the closure of the Eastern Australian AlbusBreeding Program in 2009, I & I NSW is no longerconducting bitterness seed testing. Growers can nowhave their seed tested for a fee of $30 by FutariGrain Technology Services, 34 Francis Street,Narrabri 2390, tel. (02) 6792 4588, contact TraceyWarren. Growers should continue get all albus seedlots tested annually, whether purchased or kept.

Traders participating in the UV testing scheme:Growers who sell their albus seed through a tradershould contact that company to arrange UV testing.All albus traders in New South Wales are equipped toconduct the test.The traders listed will also be able to assist growersso that any seed lots that may be contaminated canbe exchanged for clean seed before sowing.

Agrigrain, Narromine, NSW (02) 6889 2200Gilgandra Marketing Co-Op, NSW (02) 6847 1116MC Croker, Wagga Wagga, NSW (02) 6934 4000Wilson Bros Seeds, Balldale, NSW (02) 6035 1222

Certified SeedIn the long term, it is advisable to periodically replacefarmer-produced seed with new Certified Seed. Thisensures the genetic integrity of the variety, maintainsa 100% sweet (low alkaloid) content, and ensuresgood agronomic characteristics.Certified seed is available from:Luxor and RosettaViterra Seeds 1800 018205Kiev MutantHart Bros Seeds, Junee (02) 6924 7206Evan Moll, Gerogery (02) 6026 0580Premier Seeds, Forbes (02) 6851 5573

UltraN & S McCauley, Parkes (02) 6862 2674

Narrow-leaf lupins are not affected by bittercontaminationThe narrow-leaf lupin species (L. angustifolius) doesnot cross-pollinate and is not affected by bittercontamination. Albus lupin seed crops can be grownsafely in the same paddock and agronomy is similaravoiding contamination.

However, Lupini Bean albus crops are 100% bitter.They do not require testing, but should never begrown in sweet albus lupin areas (See Primefact 682)“Lupini bean – a bitter contamination risk for sweetalbus lupins” at www.dpi.nsw.gov.au also Primefact683-2 “Testing albus lupins for bitter seeds”

For further information contact:Trevor Bray, Pulse Industry Manager South East,Pulse Australia, mob: 0428 606 886email: pulse.trevor@bigpond.comMark Richards, I & I NSW, Wagga Wagga, (02) 69381999.email: mark.richards@industry.nsw.gov.auPeter Matthews, I & I NSW, Temora (02) 6977 3305email: peter.matthews@industry.nsw.gov.au

BITTERNESS ERADICATION STRATEGY• Test all albus seed lots annually through

Futari Grain Technology Services or yourlocal grain trader.

• Replace any contaminated seed lots.• Keep 1km (preferably 2km) isolation

distance of new varieties from old albuscrops.

• Remove all albus volunteers within 1km ofcrops of new varieties.

• Check sowing intentions with neighbors toensure a 1km isolation distance is met.

• Thoroughly clean all seeding & handlingequipment prior to sowing albus lupins.

• Sow the new albus varieties first to avoidcontamination with older seed.

• Ensure harvesters, field bins, augers andsilos are totally clean before harvest.

• Retain new seed from the side of cropfurtherest away from neighboring crops.

• Traders will continue to do stringent qualityassurance checks.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:David Luckett (I&I NSW), Mark Richards (I&I NSW).Peter Matthews (I&I NSW ), Wayne Hawthorne, (Pulse Australia)SOURCE:Information for this Southern Pulse Bulletin is drawn from

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PRIMEFACT 683 (Second Edition)