Relevant measurements of green pea texture

Pea (Pisum sativum L. var. medullae Alef.) texture is one cf the most important quality attributes for Danish consumers. To optimize acceptance of frozen green pea products in the future it is necessary to have suitable methods that can be used in plant breeding for optimizing texture quality. Peas with a wide range of textural characteristics were selected during three pea seasons and analyzed using chemical-physical measurements and sensory descriptive analysis. Determination of alcohol insoluble solids (AIS), dry weight, tenderometer value (TV), testa texture, cotyledon texture, and testa weight were satisfactory methods for screening frozen green peas for sensory texture quality. AIS and dry weight could handle small unit sizes as required in plant breeding. Within the range of pea quality found in Denmark, the AIS, dry weight and testa weight methods were highly correlated to sensory mealiness, skin (testa) toughness, juiciness and crispness. Instrumental measurement of cotyledon texture was better related to sensory seed hardness than was instrumental seed texture. Sample size has to be reduced to make this method suitable for screening of plant material for hardness.