Print
Comment
Rate
Building a better pepper
 |
| Pearce farmer Ed Curry shows FFA students the inside of a chile pepper where capsiacin is formed. Curry said gene manipulation allows farmers to respond more effectively to issues including hunger and medical needs. (Ainslee S. Wittig/ARN) |
Ed Curry found his passion in the chile fields of Southeast Arizona
By Ainslee S. Wittig/Arizona range news
Edward Curry's parents planted their first chile crop in 1957, and he grew up in those chile fields in Southeastern Arizona.
"My Mom and Dad worked hard at it, and chilies kept them profitable. My Dad started us farming young," he said. "When I was just eight, my Dad was looking for a better chile and I flew with him to New Mexico to a seed farm. That made a big impression on me and I became interested in genetics at a young age."
He went to Elfrida High School and then on to one semester of college, but he really didn't enjoy learning at a desk. So, he turned to his passion for chilies, and started to build his own education.
"I wanted to do more than just grow chilies; I wanted to breed chilies. It was a challenge," he said, and his desire grew into a lifelong interest in chile genetics.
Now, Curry, at 53, is internationally known for his work in chile genetics.
He has just filed a utility patent on a chile that he and his partner, Phil Villa, bred.
The 'Phil Villa' chile pepper, as he calls it, "has very unique properties and flavor. To file for a utility patent on a plant, you have to show extreme differences and specific value. It's a very difficult thing to do," Curry said.
"I am also currently working with a group doing the Genome mapping for peppers - making descriptions of every gene in peppers. There are five scientists tied to it and the project costs about $30 billion," he said.
But let's back up a bit.
In 1986, Curry started the Curry Seed and Chile Co., now a 1,200-acre farm in the Sulphur Springs Valley near Pearce.
Curry said most of his knowledge of genetics came from working with his former teacher and current partner, Phil Villa, a well-known chile breeder.
Others who helped him learn were Jeff Silvertooth of the University of Arizona; Ben Villalone of Texas A&M - known as 'Dr. Pepper' for "taming" the jalapeno, and Stephanie Walker of New Mexico State University, among others.
"I have spent the last 30 years trying to understand gene traits - and I still don't have near the knowledge I need," Curry said.
For many years, he has worked on developing new and improved hybrids that are now produced with uniform quality, flavor and heat.
"In 1993, we were the first to stabilize heat in the commercial chile industry. Once you learn how, it's not hard to do," he said.
Then about eight years ago, Curry was asked by Mexico's Department of Agriculture to improve the yield of the Guaillo pepper.
"I doubled the yield and kept the unique flavor of the Guaillo," which is a popular Mexican pepper with high oil content used for drying, he said.
In another pepper, Curry has developed a thin-skinned cross.
"By making the epidermis of the chile thinner (for roasting purposes), this has made a 10-percent difference in sales in the industry and several millions of dollars per season," Curry said. "This allows people to start eating the skin, which has more nutrients."
"We have a patent pending for this new thin-skin variety," he added.
Curry summed up his work: "We're playing with gene packages."
In 1995, Curry was asked to attend the Asian Vegetable Research & Development Center in Taiwan, where he was invited to swap genetic material, which PhDs use for breeding work.
"I came back with the specific gene I was looking for," he said. "I was very honored to be there. This center is supported by the United Nations and there are 7,000 cultivars of pepper in the seed bank there."
Curry said, "In third world countries, most of the farms are very small - often one acre - and they're trying to keep up with growing populations. The numbers of acres of farmland are shrinking and the population is growing. It is the job of the agriculturists to feed the world. Nutrition and high yield are important. That is why genetic breeding is important."
Locally, the Currys hosted their fourth Field Day in September 2009, where about 70 researchers from the Southwest (and elsewhere in the U.S.) come to his farm to study the genetics of the chili industry.
The genetic origins for 80 to 90 percent of the New Mexico variety green chilies grown commercially in the U.S. can be traced back to Curry's farm in Arizona, he said, as the Curry Seed & Chile Company supplies chile seed to growers in the Southwestern U.S. and in several states in Mexico.
"We're at the heart of chili research," he said.
"There's great joy in that, however I always worry about making a mistake. I could screw up and that could affect 90 percent of the industry," he said.
In 1996, he partnered with Jeannie England at the Santa Cruz Chili & Spice Co., a manufacturer and retailer of chili products. He said his father and Jeannie's father (Gene England) had worked together since Gene started the company in 1943.
His chile paste is canned at Curry's Farm in Pearce and he sends it to Santa Cruz. It ends up at several big-name companies. And, Curry's hot pepper mash ends up at Tyson Foods for hot wings.
"Our farm is one of the few seed-to-shelf farms. We do the genetics, grow the crops in the fields, and then all the processing and canning right here," he said.
Chile research is not only for the food industry, however.
Capsaicin is the ingredient found in different types of hot peppers that makes the peppers spicy hot. When a capsaicin cream or ointment is used on the skin, the capsaicin helps relieve pain by first stimulating and then decreasing the intensity of pain signals in the body.
"The capsaicin is formed at the top of the placenta where the seed is formed and it can be used for anesthesia - it deadens the nerves. The chile industry is on the cutting edge in bio-pharmaceuticals. In the work that I am doing (generally, making genetic selections based on Scoville heat unit measurements for peppers and the five genes that make up capsaicin), I had to sign a silence agreement," Curry said.
Created in 1912, the Scoville heat unit is the closest thing to a standard for measuring the heat in a pepper. It is a measurement that involves adding sugar to a solution until one can no longer taste the pepper. The more sugar, the higher the spice, the greater measurement in Scoville units.
"I'm 53 and my kids think I can eat fire! I've spent 30 years tasting chilies - it deadens the nerves over the years, so I really can't taste the heat as much. That's what we've found out for local anesthetics, as well," Curry said, adding if you walk into the area where the chile is crushed, the atomized capsaicin "is great for a sinus headache."
"Over the next 30 years, there will be a lot more usage of capsaicin medicinally," he added.
Curry is a bit surprised by his status at this point. In September 2008, he was the guest speaker at the International Pepper Conference held at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
"I was this farm boy talking to a bunch of doctors!" he said, obviously amazed at his own predicament.
Curry and his wife Jeanette have four children currently at home, Keiffer, Mikey, Jordan and Tyler, who is running part of the farm: "We may be Curry & Sons Farm one day," he said.
While speaking to members of several FFA chapters who visited Curry's farm in October, he said, "If I can inspire one of you to study genetics, it's worth doing this. Gene manipulation is what will hold our world together and keep us from being hungry. And I'd like to keep America in the forefront of this industry.
"But, I enjoy speaking and encouraging young folks. And I tell them, whatever you do, you've got to have passion for it. Education never stops. We are searching everyday for something to uncover. So, if there's one thing I can pass on, it is, love what you do.
"For me, my heart is here on my farm. I put what profit we make back into my research -- it is my hobby, my passion. People go on vacation, or love fishing. For me, I don't have to go to the mountains to have fun. It's here. The farm and my research ... it's my life."
By Ainslee S. Wittig/Arizona range news
Edward Curry's parents planted their first chile crop in 1957, and he grew up in those chile fields in Southeastern Arizona.
"My Mom and Dad worked hard at it, and chilies kept them profitable. My Dad started us farming young," he said. "When I was just eight, my Dad was looking for a better chile and I flew with him to New Mexico to a seed farm. That made a big impression on me and I became interested in genetics at a young age."
He went to Elfrida High School and then on to one semester of college, but he really didn't enjoy learning at a desk. So, he turned to his passion for chilies, and started to build his own education.
"I wanted to do more than just grow chilies; I wanted to breed chilies. It was a challenge," he said, and his desire grew into a lifelong interest in chile genetics.
Now, Curry, at 53, is internationally known for his work in chile genetics.
He has just filed a utility patent on a chile that he and his partner, Phil Villa, bred.
The 'Phil Villa' chile pepper, as he calls it, "has very unique properties and flavor. To file for a utility patent on a plant, you have to show extreme differences and specific value. It's a very difficult thing to do," Curry said.
"I am also currently working with a group doing the Genome mapping for peppers - making descriptions of every gene in peppers. There are five scientists tied to it and the project costs about $30 billion," he said.
But let's back up a bit.
In 1986, Curry started the Curry Seed and Chile Co., now a 1,200-acre farm in the Sulphur Springs Valley near Pearce.
Curry said most of his knowledge of genetics came from working with his former teacher and current partner, Phil Villa, a well-known chile breeder.
Others who helped him learn were Jeff Silvertooth of the University of Arizona; Ben Villalone of Texas A&M - known as 'Dr. Pepper' for "taming" the jalapeno, and Stephanie Walker of New Mexico State University, among others.
"I have spent the last 30 years trying to understand gene traits - and I still don't have near the knowledge I need," Curry said.
For many years, he has worked on developing new and improved hybrids that are now produced with uniform quality, flavor and heat.
"In 1993, we were the first to stabilize heat in the commercial chile industry. Once you learn how, it's not hard to do," he said.
Then about eight years ago, Curry was asked by Mexico's Department of Agriculture to improve the yield of the Guaillo pepper.
"I doubled the yield and kept the unique flavor of the Guaillo," which is a popular Mexican pepper with high oil content used for drying, he said.
In another pepper, Curry has developed a thin-skinned cross.
"By making the epidermis of the chile thinner (for roasting purposes), this has made a 10-percent difference in sales in the industry and several millions of dollars per season," Curry said. "This allows people to start eating the skin, which has more nutrients."
"We have a patent pending for this new thin-skin variety," he added.
Curry summed up his work: "We're playing with gene packages."
In 1995, Curry was asked to attend the Asian Vegetable Research & Development Center in Taiwan, where he was invited to swap genetic material, which PhDs use for breeding work.
"I came back with the specific gene I was looking for," he said. "I was very honored to be there. This center is supported by the United Nations and there are 7,000 cultivars of pepper in the seed bank there."
Curry said, "In third world countries, most of the farms are very small - often one acre - and they're trying to keep up with growing populations. The numbers of acres of farmland are shrinking and the population is growing. It is the job of the agriculturists to feed the world. Nutrition and high yield are important. That is why genetic breeding is important."
Locally, the Currys hosted their fourth Field Day in September 2009, where about 70 researchers from the Southwest (and elsewhere in the U.S.) come to his farm to study the genetics of the chili industry.
The genetic origins for 80 to 90 percent of the New Mexico variety green chilies grown commercially in the U.S. can be traced back to Curry's farm in Arizona, he said, as the Curry Seed & Chile Company supplies chile seed to growers in the Southwestern U.S. and in several states in Mexico.
"We're at the heart of chili research," he said.
"There's great joy in that, however I always worry about making a mistake. I could screw up and that could affect 90 percent of the industry," he said.
In 1996, he partnered with Jeannie England at the Santa Cruz Chili & Spice Co., a manufacturer and retailer of chili products. He said his father and Jeannie's father (Gene England) had worked together since Gene started the company in 1943.
His chile paste is canned at Curry's Farm in Pearce and he sends it to Santa Cruz. It ends up at several big-name companies. And, Curry's hot pepper mash ends up at Tyson Foods for hot wings.
"Our farm is one of the few seed-to-shelf farms. We do the genetics, grow the crops in the fields, and then all the processing and canning right here," he said.
Chile research is not only for the food industry, however.
Capsaicin is the ingredient found in different types of hot peppers that makes the peppers spicy hot. When a capsaicin cream or ointment is used on the skin, the capsaicin helps relieve pain by first stimulating and then decreasing the intensity of pain signals in the body.
"The capsaicin is formed at the top of the placenta where the seed is formed and it can be used for anesthesia - it deadens the nerves. The chile industry is on the cutting edge in bio-pharmaceuticals. In the work that I am doing (generally, making genetic selections based on Scoville heat unit measurements for peppers and the five genes that make up capsaicin), I had to sign a silence agreement," Curry said.
Created in 1912, the Scoville heat unit is the closest thing to a standard for measuring the heat in a pepper. It is a measurement that involves adding sugar to a solution until one can no longer taste the pepper. The more sugar, the higher the spice, the greater measurement in Scoville units.
"I'm 53 and my kids think I can eat fire! I've spent 30 years tasting chilies - it deadens the nerves over the years, so I really can't taste the heat as much. That's what we've found out for local anesthetics, as well," Curry said, adding if you walk into the area where the chile is crushed, the atomized capsaicin "is great for a sinus headache."
"Over the next 30 years, there will be a lot more usage of capsaicin medicinally," he added.
Curry is a bit surprised by his status at this point. In September 2008, he was the guest speaker at the International Pepper Conference held at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
"I was this farm boy talking to a bunch of doctors!" he said, obviously amazed at his own predicament.
Curry and his wife Jeanette have four children currently at home, Keiffer, Mikey, Jordan and Tyler, who is running part of the farm: "We may be Curry & Sons Farm one day," he said.
While speaking to members of several FFA chapters who visited Curry's farm in October, he said, "If I can inspire one of you to study genetics, it's worth doing this. Gene manipulation is what will hold our world together and keep us from being hungry. And I'd like to keep America in the forefront of this industry.
"But, I enjoy speaking and encouraging young folks. And I tell them, whatever you do, you've got to have passion for it. Education never stops. We are searching everyday for something to uncover. So, if there's one thing I can pass on, it is, love what you do.
"For me, my heart is here on my farm. I put what profit we make back into my research -- it is my hobby, my passion. People go on vacation, or love fishing. For me, I don't have to go to the mountains to have fun. It's here. The farm and my research ... it's my life."
 |
 |
|
| SEABHS must change, or lose public funding | Kansas Settlement Store total loss after Tuesday morning blaze |
Article Rating
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of willcoxrangenews.com.
Nancy wrote on Jan 27, 2010 4:32 PM:
Thank you, Ainslee for this winning article. "