In recent years, hummus has become a pop culture food phenomenon, drawing praises from dieticians for the health benefits and chefs for the flavor.

However, the core ingredient, the chickpea, has had its production threatened. The chickpea has played a significant role in the vegetarian diet for thousands of years. It is high in protein and rich in important carbohydrates and minerals. And vegans love it. 

Grown in the Pacific Northwest and Northern Plains of the United States, the chickpea has an integral role in the agriculture systems of these regions. Recently this role has been threatened by a soil-born water mold, Pythium ultimum. 

George Vandemark and his team have worked to improve chickpea varieties and develop new ways to control disease in legumes. Their research was recently shared in Crop Science, a publication of the Crop Science Society of America.

“For over 30 years, common pathogens in chickpeas and other legumes have been controlled by fungicides,” says Vandemark. “We discovered this approach was not working effectively when one of my coworkers visited a field where seedlings had not emerged.”

The planted seeds died shortly after they started to germinate. As the seed grew to the top of the soil, the disease attacked the plant and killed it.

To identify the cause, researchers isolated the chickpea seeds in the soil. They discovered that the pathogen P. ultimum developed resistance to fungicide. This resistance allowed the mold to infect the plant.

“Our approach looked at two different types of chickpeas – kabuli and desi,” says Vandemark. “The kabuli chickpea is almost exclusively grown in the United States because of the large export market.”

Time to start planting small Desi chickpeas

Kabuli chickpeas are larger, have a clear or light beige seed coat, and are typically canned and used to make hummus. Desi, believed to have originated in Turkey, is smaller, has a colored seed coat, and is used for making stews.

If you ask around famous hummus chefs in Israel, for instance, they will tell you to use only the smaller Desi variety. Get the ultimate hummus recipe here. Or scroll down to the bottom of the post for it. 

The researchers examined different lines of the chickpea to identify natural sources of resistance to P. ultimum.

The most popular varieties of chickpea grown in the United States were susceptible to the disease. The team did discover other chickpea varieties that showed resistance to the soil-born mold.

“We identified many desi chickpeas that were resistant to the pathogen,” said Vandemark. “Luckily, several kabuli also displayed intermediate levels of resistance.”

These resistant chickpea varieties excited the researchers because they produce chickpeas that look similar to what consumers are used to.

“These traits are not ones we want to lose,” said Vandemark. “Consumers expect the kabuli type chickpea to come from the United States. The lines we identified with resistance to the disease have the shape and seed color that are desirable.”

With this discovery, the research team is using the resistant plants to breed new kabuli varieties. The resistance chickpeas are crossed with current commercial varieties. This will develop a type that is more resistant to the disease.

“Moving forward, this will lead to new chickpea varieties with improved resistance to P. ultimum,” explains Vandemark. “This research will also lead to new methods for controlling diseases that rely less on fungicides and more on genetic resistance.”

From this research, scientists can gain a better understanding of disease and disease resistance. This will push researchers to use plant breeding as a means to combat diseases, rather than synthetic chemicals.

“P. ultimum has a broad range of hosts,” says Vandemark. “While we looked at chickpeas, it can affect small grains like wheat and other legumes like soybeans. The chickpea has a small genome size, making it easier to examine.”

Future researchers can build upon this research to examine potential disease resistance to P. ultimum in other crops. Naturally controlling the disease using genetics and breeding can lead to a more sustainable production system.  

George Vandemark is a researcher for the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service. This work was supported by the United States Department of Agriculture and the USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council.

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Maxim’s Hummus Recipe

Ingredients
• 6.5 pounds of small-sized dried chickpeas (Desi chickpeas)
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons of salt
• 2 tablespoons of lemon salt
• Half measure of tehina (Amount of tehina equals half the volume of    cooked chickpeas)
• Water
• Olive oil to garnish

Take 6.5 pounds of dried chickpeas and soak them overnight in cold water, along with baking soda and baking powder. The next morning clean the chickpeas in running water. Drain the water and remove any small stones.

Adding cold water to cover the chickpeas and then a double amount, vigorously boil the chickpeas in a large pot. After reaching boiling point, turn down heat, and simmer for 3 hours with a lid, until the chickpeas are soft.

When done, strain the chickpeas, and set aside until cold. When cold, put into a food processor, adding raw tehina – about half the volume of the cooked chickpeas. Add in salt, lemon salt, and enough tablespoons of cold water to achieve a thick, but smooth consistency. Spread the hummus on a plate, and garnish with olive oil.

“That’s it. Now you will have lovely hummus”, says Tony.

And a lot of it. Divide the recipe in half if you want a lot less.

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As hummus, a staple of Middle Eastern cuisine, gains popularity among Americans seeking healthful snacks, tobacco farmers open their fields to chick peas and Pepsico undertakes to develop new hummus food science with an Israeli company, Strauss. Both businesses see massive potential in developing American chick pea strains for a number of good reasons, some perhaps less good. Let’s start with the good: homemade hummus or that bought from a kiosk which makes it fresh, is high in protein, low in salt and fat, and can be free of artificial additives.  Made with inexpensive chickpeas, it can easily be whipped up at home.

But in America, the Mecca of fast food, the quickest way to a consumer’s heart is through store-bought pre-made, conveniently packaged eating opportunities. 

Market-research firm Information Resources Inc. says US food retailers rang up $530 million in sales of “refrigerated flavored spreads” (a food category dominated by hummus), a 25% jump over 2010.

That chickpea-jonesing trend (it’s also a crunchy snack!) has caught the attention of major food companies like Sabra Dipping Co. (a joint venture of PepsiCo, Inc. and Israel’s Strauss Group Ltd), and Kraft Foods Group, Inc., which owns Athenos, another big hummus brand.

Sabra hooks Americans on hummus through free sampling events staged in major cities, distributing over ten thousand 2-ounce tasting packages in a single day. The company kicked off its first national television ad campaign earlier this year.

Sabra 2012 sales reached an estimated $315 million.

Like quinoa shortages, tiny chickpeas have become a hot commodity and forward thinking manufacturers are preparing for a potential shortage. 

To meet demand, Sabra’s manufacturing plant near Richmond, Virginia will undergo an $86 million expansion. And to reduce its dependence on the primary chickpea-growers in the Pacific Northwest, Sabra wants to cultivate a commercial crop in Virginia.

“We need to establish the supply chain to meet our growing demand,” says Sabra’s chief technology officer, Tulin Tuzel. “We want to reduce the risk of bad weather or concentration in one region. If possible, we also want to expand the growing seasons.”

Sabra also seeks to identify new chickpea varieties.

Sourcing chickpeas locally will lower shipping costs, and come with a healthy perk of reduced transportation emissions.

So Sabra is lobbying farmers in the heart of American tobacco country to grow chickpeas, an easy sell as declining cigarette sales has dramatically changed the economics of farming tobacco.

Compared with corn or wheat, chickpeas are a tiny crop, but lucrative.

Last year’s US harvest reached a record 332 million pounds, up 51% from 2011, with a record value of $115.5 million, according to the USDA.

In addition to heightened hummus production, chickpea demand from Spain, Turkey and Pakistan also has led farmers to increase plantings.

But it’s not a simple substitution of seeds: experts say the state’s high summer heat and humidity could prove a significant obstacle to chickpea viability. (Is this an invite for genetic modification?)

With Sabra financial support, Virginia State University is working on identifying a variety more suited to the climate. Agronomist Harbans Bhardwaj thinks Virginia farmers may be able to grow the crop on a commercial scale within three years. The university has recruited farmers to plant on-farm trials.

According to the Wall Street Journal, James Brown, a 72-year-old tobacco, corn and soybean farmer in Clover, Va., said he knew nothing about chickpeas when an agent from Virginia State called him several months ago and asked if he would plant the bean.

He said he jumped at the opportunity because he is looking for ways to make his roughly 300-acre farm more profitable.

Brown planted four acres with chickpeas in mid-April. That week, his wife served him the first chickpeas he’d ever eaten. “They tasted pretty good,” the farmer said.

Image via soggydan

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