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New Chile Varieties Have
More Flavour and Aroma
NuMex Heritage Big Jim
and NuMex Heritage 6-4
By MELANIE DABOVICH
Think the bold, sweet scent
of roasting green chile is one of the best
smells around? Well it's about to smell even
better and taste better, too.
Researchers with New Mexico
State University's Chile Pepper Institute in
Las Cruces have developed two new chile
varieties with improved flavour and aroma
after essentially "cleaning up" two existing
varieties popular with farmers and chile
aficionados.
 The new varieties known as NuMex Heritage
Big Jim and NuMex Heritage 6-4 have five
times the flavour and aroma of the varieties
they were created from the NuMex Big Jim and
New Mexico 6-4.
Paul Bosland, professor of
horticulture and director of the Chile
Pepper Institute, said researchers created
the new varieties because the old Jim Big
and 6-4 varieties had "run out," losing
their signature flavour after many growing
seasons.
"Over the years they lost
their identity. They're not true to type
anymore. The chile the farmers were growing
had a great look and disease resistance, but
no taste," Bosland said. "In New Mexico, you
have to have chile that tastes good."
 Chile can lose its identity due to cross
pollination with other varieties, Bosland
said.
"As the bee in the garden or
field dotes from one plant to another, it
could possibly bring pollen from a different
plant in. Or in your mechanical mix with
seeds, you make a mistake. There are always
accidents that occur along the way," he
said.
And the varieties have had a
long time to get mixed up. New Mexico 6-4
was created in 1957; The NuMex Big Jim was
released in 1975.
Bosland and his colleagues
at the institute decided to get the
varieties back to their old selves, so to
speak.
In 2002, they obtained the
original seed of both varieties, frozen in
liquid nitrogen, from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's National Seed Storage Lab in
Fort Collins, Colo. From there, the
researchers worked to create breeding lines
for new varieties that would capture the
original flavour of the chilies while making
improvements to help farmers stay
competitive.
"Now, both varieties have
much more flavour compounds, better yield
and better plant habits. With these new
guys, when you roast them the smell is much
stronger and the chile flavour is so much
more intense. My mouth is watering just
talking about them," said Danise Coon, the
Chile Pepper Institute's program
coordinator.
Coon said characteristics of
the new varieties include high yield,
uniform heat level, easy de-stemming and
traditional flavour.
The researchers also used
mass spectrometry laboratory testing, which
detects flavour compounds, to determine if
they hit the mark for improved flavour.
Bosland said the team
discovered that people were trying to steal
the chile from test fields near the
university.
"They're so good people are
stealing them. We're pretty excited,"
Bosland said with a chuckle.
The chile was then grown by
Biad Chili Ltd. Co. in Mesilla Park, where
it was guarded and seeds were collected.
For the future, Bosland and
his team is looking at improving the Sandia
variety from original seed for release in
about two years.
As for the new heritage
varieties, Bosland said their new identities
can help New Mexico's chile industry
continue to tout its quality.
"The chile and that flavour
is our connection to the earth. Having good
tasting food is very important, and
consumers are moving back toward more
flavourful food," Bosland said.
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