São Paulo – At the time of the FIFA World Cup, all Brazilians get patriotic, and even the food that goes to the table is green and yellow. Such is the case of the Brasileirinha squash, which has a green and yellow shell, developed by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) to pay tribute to the prevailing colours on the national flag.
It took five years before the exact colours chosen by the Embrapa researchers were attained. In 2001, one of the squashes in the fields was different, with a green an white shell. "It was a gift from nature," said the researcher of Embrapa Vegetables, Leonardo Boiteux. According to him, that was when the crossbreeding started, aiming to develop fruit with brighter tones.
"We thought about developing a multipurpose squash, for culinary and ornamental use," said the researcher. According to him, the fruit is quite similar to other squash. However, this bicolour variety is more crunchy and nutrient-rich, such as lutein, which helps prevent cataract, and beta-carotene, especially when the fruit stays on the tree for longer. "Its resistance is also good for cooking stuffed squash. It does not fall apart during cooking," he said.
According to Boiteux, the Brasileirinha started being sold by two companies in 2008, but only started being produced in large scale last year. The researcher said that restaurants in the Brazilian capital Brasília are using the squash to decorate their dishes. "The people are enchanted when they see the Brasileirinha," he claimed.
The success did not attract Brazilians only, it attracted Africans as well. According to the researcher, two years ago, when a South African delegation visited the Embrapa, representatives of the country’s Ministry of Agriculture expressed interest in the squash seeds.
The "Brasileirinha" adapts very well when it comes to planting. According to the researcher, it may be planted in all of the country’s traditional producing regions, using the same production system as the one used in other squash farms. The Brasileirinha’s growing time is a little longer than other species’: it takes from 95 to 100 days, whereas the others take 80 to . "Another advantage is that the Brasileirinha has a strong resistance to powdery mildew, a type of fungus that affects plantations," he said.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
