Source: UNIV OF HAWAII submitted to NRP
SUSTAINING THE EXPANSION OF CACAO, COFFEE, AND KAVA PRODUCTION IN HAWAII
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
HATCH
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0212554
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Oct 1, 2012
Project End Date
Sep 30, 2017
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
UNIV OF HAWAII
3190 MAILE WAY
HONOLULU,HI 96822
Performing Department
Tropical Plant & Soil Science
Non Technical Summary
Cacao (cocoa, Theobroma cacao) was introduced in Hawaii over 150 years ago but is only now forming a commercial industry. This umbrella project is launching the world's newest chocolate origin by reproducing the world chocolate flavors in the Hawaiian islands using genetics, environment, processing, and blending. Hawaii's coffee industry has reached a critical period in its battle with the coffee berry borer (CBB) a very serious world-wide pest of coffee. Farmers must implement tested control methods to sustain this profitable coffee industry. Kava sales and availability of ready-to-prepare and ready-to-drink products has increased based on my surveys. Public welfare is served by learning about and consuming an ancient beverage, kava, whose stress relieving action is much needed in todays America. Ten cacao trees of promising CTAHR seedlings, private farm seedlings, USDA and private sector-evaluated cacao varieties were propagated. Up to 20 cooperators -predominantly farmers- are being selected across four Hawaiian islands in dry and wet locations mostly below 1000 ft elevation to plant a replicated grafted variety experiment. Establishment and growth issues will be recorded. When trees begin to bear in the second or third year yield and quality of 'varieties per site' will be evaluated, including ferment, dry, prepare cocoa liquor and chocolate for organoleptic evaluation. This information will enable farmers to make better decisions about what 'variety' to plan in different environments. Hawaii's cacao to chocolate industry will have known options for blending varieties and location effects to create a wide range of chocolate flavors. Knowledge gained in the project will be presented to industry organizations and implementation of imported and locally developed technology particularly CBB control will occur. This is done by editing coffee, cacao and kava conferences presentations for commodity association webpages, conference tours, workshops as necessary, contributing to CTAHR's web-based Farmer's Bookshelf and by writing kava, cacao, and coffee extension bulletins. Graduate student training and facilitation of my colleagues research and extension effort for the benefit of the cacao, coffee, and kava industries will occur continuously in the project. I anticipate that cacao acreage of grafted trees expanding annually by 2015 and that increasing number of farms will be producing chocolate as verified by surveys. Kava acreage will expand annually by 2013, verified by surveys. CBB damaged coffee levels will drop to 10% by 2014, and 5% by 2016, verified by surveys. These outcomes will improve the sustainability of these commodities in Hawaii's agricultural sector and complement our much larger visitor industry by providing retail products. We will have much better understanding of the impact of environment, management, and genetics on chocolate quality as a result of uniform processing of cacao into chocolate.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
2021099106010%
2031099106040%
2041099108020%
2021099303010%
2031099303010%
2041099303010%
Knowledge Area
204 - Plant Product Quality and Utility (Preharvest); 203 - Plant Biological Efficiency and Abiotic Stresses Affecting Plants; 202 - Plant Genetic Resources;

Subject Of Investigation
1099 - Tropical/subtropical fruit, general/other;

Field Of Science
1060 - Biology (whole systems); 1080 - Genetics; 3030 - Information and communication;
Goals / Objectives
Goals Facilitation of the development of a sustainable cacao industry model for Hawaii has been challenging. The project will: identify high yield and high quality cacao varieties, develop lab-scale and small farm-scale fermentation technology, and determine the impact of environment and management on chocolate yield and quality. Public welfare is advanced with regards to sustaining a profitable coffee industry in the face of a major pest threat from the Coffee Berry Borer. It is also served by learning about and consuming an ancient beverage, kava, whose stress relieving action is much needed in todays America. Objectives 1 Promote cleft grafting as vegetative propagation system that I, farmers and nurseries can use to clone outstanding seedling trees that is coupled with a field establishment system based on fabric /film covered cages so cacao can be planted as seed and grafted later or transplanted as seedlings. 2 Quantify the yield and chocolate quality of differences between cacao genotypes and location/management combinations across the state. 3 Train graduate students for research and development positions for tropical beverage crop production. 4 Participate in coffee, cacao, and kava state-wide industry associations meetings and as needed organize or strategic planning sessions. 5 Communicate with and coordinate CTAHR multidisciplinary commodity groups for coffee, cacao and kava to increase collaboration to develop and implement of projects identified by industries and by CTAHR. 6 Undertake as needed the development of and application of sustainable production technology for cacao, coffee, and kava, and to farm conditions, both corporate and family farm, throughout the state with appropriate CTAHR personnel and industry. 7 Facilitate the creation and dissemination of industry information and technology for extension agents and industry stakeholders which aids the adoption of technology appropriate for their conditions. Expected Outputs 800 grafted cacao trees of 10 selections planted on cooperating farms across the state. 40 grafted cacao trees of promising clones selected from variety trial provided to nurseries on Oahu, Maui, Hawaii and Kauai to produce and sell grafted trees. CTAHR research and extension updates presented at commodity association meetings. Detailed CTAHR Updates presentations along with edited presentations of other speakers posted on commodity association websites and provided to CTAHR faculty. Two referred journal articles on impact of environment on chocolate quality. Comprehensive cacao to chocolate manual for Hawaii. Graduate MS or PhD student every three years. One or more workshop participation annually.
Project Methods
1 Ten trees of promising CTAHR seedlings, private farm seedlings, USDA and private sector-evaluated cacao varieties were propagated. They are used to produce grafted plants for evaluation. 2 Identify up to 20 cooperators around the state in dry and wet locations mostly below 1000 ft elevation to plant a replicated grafted variety experiment on Oahu, Maui, Hawaii and Kauai islands. Collect and evaluate establishment and growth issues at these sites As trees begin to bear in the second or third year collect 10 pods per variety per site to evaluate pod index, and ferment, dry, prepare cocoa liquor and chocolate for organoleptic evaluation. Our lab-scale fermentation system is based on external heat source, inoculum from a commercial- ferment taken on third day of ferment, mixed with glycerin and water, frozen and stored at -80C. The MARS company has agreed to perform physical and chocolate quality evaluation. 3 My current cacao focused graduate student will work on the state-wide variety experiment. My graduate students have specific research problems. However each is trained in the production of coffee, cacao, and kava including propagation, production, harvesting, and processing to the consumable product- cup of coffee, bar of chocolate and bowl of kava and quality evaluation. 4 As notified by industry organizations I will attend meetings and provide scientific and CTAHR background on issues. As negotiated with industry organization I organize and/or facilitate the meetings necessary to bring about an strategic plan. 5 Meetings of CTAHR multidisciplinary commodity groups composed of faculty, industry scientists and other agencies will be held and facilitated in person when feasible, otherwise via email or video conference. Agenda items include results of research and other activities, discussions of policy, research, and extension issues required for maintaining the sustainability of these industries. A group memory from each CTAHR multidisciplinary meeting is prepared and becomes the basis for CTAHR Updates presentations industry conferences and proceedings. Following the industry conference the CTAHR Update and any comments or issues are presented to multidisciplinary groups by email with follow-up meetings as necessary. 6 The PI has had a number of state and industry-funded contracts. New ones will be initiated as driven by clientele's (farmers, processors and extension agents) needs. Major theme is sustainable technology development and application for improving the productivity of agricultural labor, the major cost item in production and developing on-farm vertical integration to add value including agritourism. 7 Information will be presented to industry organizations from web-based surveys of issues and implementation of imported and locally developed technology particularly CBB control, by editing coffee, cacao and kava conferences presentations for commodity association webpages, conference tours, workshops as necessary, contributing to CTAHR's web-based Farmer's Bookshelf and by writing kava, cacao, and coffee extension bulletins.

Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/17

Outputs
Target Audience:Target audiences reached through the Hawaii Coffee Associations annual education meeting,Hawaii Chocolate and Cacao Association annual education meetings, and the annual Hawaii and PacificIslandsKava Festival and education program, on-farm visits as well as daily email and telephone exchanges with growers, general public, extension agents and colleagues. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?General results of the project have been reported at the annual education conferences of the Hawaii Coffee Association and Hawaii Chocolate and Cacao Assn and the presentations posted on the websites of these organizations. Surveys reports were emailed to survey respondents, leaders of various coffee and cacao groups across the state, and CAHR colleagues and state and federal agriculture officials. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? A cacao variety development program begun is 2005 was concluded in fall of 2017. Ten selections were evaluated in four locations for four years of harvests, and one seedling was selected for release as the first Hawaii named variety. A protocol for microfermentation of cacao samples as small as 100g, drying and post fermentation storage was developed and used to evaluate seedlings for yield and chocolate quality. An annual survey was conducted every year through the life of the project documenting cacao farmer issues and increase of cacao acreage and production through the Hawaiian islands. Annual survey was conducted every yearthrough the life of the project documenting the response of coffee farmers on Hawaii island to the invasive pest -Coffee Berry Borer Hypothenemus hampei- in monitoring, controlling and measuring damage.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C., Gautz, L.D., Seguine, E., and Myers, J.L. 2017. Microfermentation of cacao; the CTAHR bag system. HortTechnology 27 (5). doi: 10.21273/HORTTECH03769-17
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C. 2013. 2013 Hawaii Cacao Survey: production and issues of concern. CTAHR, University of Hawaii.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C. 2014. 2014 Hawaii Cacao Survey: production and issues of concern. CTAHR, University of Hawaii.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C. 2015. 2015 Hawaii Cacao Survey: production and issues of concern. CTAHR, University of Hawaii.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C. 2016. 2016 Hawaii Cacao Survey: production and issues of concern. CTAHR, University of Hawaii.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C. 2017. 2017 Hawaii Cacao Survey: production and issues of concern. CTAHR, University of Hawaii.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C., Burbano Greco, E.B., and Kawabata, A. 2012. Comparison of responses between 2011 and 2012 CBB surveys: How are we doing in the war with CBB. CTAHR, University of Hawaii.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C., Burbano Greco, E., and Kawabata, A. 2013. Comparison of responses between 2012 and 2013 CBB surveys: How are we doing in the war with CBB. CTAHR, University of Hawaii.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C, Burbano Greco, E., and Kawabata, A. 2014. Comparison of three years of CBB surveys (2012 to 2014) : How are we doing in the war with CBB. CTAHR, University of Hawaii.
  • Type: Other Status: Other Year Published: 2015 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C., Kawabata, AM., and Nakamoto, S.T. 2015. How are we doing in the war with CBB? Comparing CBB Surveys 2014 and 2015. CTAHR, University of Hawaii.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C., Hicks, G., Kawabata, A.M., Curtiss, R.T., and Nakamoto, S.T. 2017. How are we doing in the war with CBB? Comparing CBB Surveys 2015 and 2016. CTAHR, University of Hawaii.


Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems:The Pearl City Urban Garden HSCT cacao site is not only high pH but on concrete and asphalt fill. Trees are dying in two areas of the plot. High pH soil induced iron deficiency was corrected but is less effective in previous areas. A high rainfall site ( > 3 M/year) at Lyon Arboretum was transplanted in March 2016 for the HSCT as all sites beyond Oahu island were discontinued due to logistics. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Cacao: A graduate student joined the project in August 2015 as Research assistant. A second cacao graduate student joined the lab in August 2016 as a volunteer. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Progress was disseminated by presentations at the various state-wide annual conferences for associations representing coffee, cacao and kava and island commodity festivals. Newsletter articles were written for these associations, reports were emailed and direct one on one communication by email, phone and in office and on farm visits. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Cacao: Complete 2016 analysis of yield and sensory evaluation. Summarize results for sites planted in 2010 and make a decision which the 10 selections should be released to farmers, based on dry bean yield, quality assessment, and tree, pod, and bean characteristics. Begin writing journal article on the variety trial. Kava: Continue organization of KavaFest. Transfer responsibility for expanding the kava collection to younger faculty. Coffee: Assist Hawaii Dept. of Ag to manage survey and analysis of annual CBB survey to provide the industry with statistically based picture of their fight with CBB. Begin a revision of 'Growing Coffee in Hawaii ' 1999 and reprinted 2014.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Cacao: Five Hawaii State-wide Cacao Trial sites are bearing fruit. A sixth site at Lyon arboretum - a high rainfall site - was planted in February 2016. Yields from several selections already exceed yields of producing seedling orchards. Yield to date was presented to farmers in March 2016. A manuscript, 'Micro fermentation of cacao (Theobroma cacao): the CTAHR Bag System' was submitted to HortTechnology describing our micro scale (under 100 g ) fermentation system to produce commercial quality cacao. Samples for professional pro bono evaluation were submitted for the 2016 main crop. Cocoa liquor from four sites in 2015 sites were evaluated by a tasting panel and analyzed showing significant differences between sites and trees. Coffee: Continued use of an online survey instrument, analyzed and reported results and conclusions to the Hawaii coffee industry and scientist colleagues in CTAHR, USDA, and HDOA for the 2015 survey. The sixth CBB survey was sent in early September 2016. It is now integrated into the HDOA's project on subsidized Beauveria bassiana for coffee Berry Borer. Project with colleague (Dr. Pratibha Nerukar) of impact of coffee consumption on metabolic syndrome is now in the field stage with participants consuming coffee. Kava: The 2015 Hawaii and Pacific Island Kava Festival (11 th KavaFest) was attended by over 1300 members of the public. The educational festival involves tastings of Hawaii kava varieties, educational posters, and 1 on 1 discussions with the public, kava farmers and my team of volunteers. The 2015 festival site will be moved to a larger location on campus due to expanding interest in kava. In 2016 the festival was renamed La 'Awa and will located at the Hawaiian Studies lo'i on Dole street. The CTAHR kava germplasm collection is being replanted by two TPSS faculty. Over 1000 propagules were provided to famers and scientists this year.

Publications

  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C. 2016. Labeling chocolate made from Cacao Grown in the state of Hawaii. Proceedings of Hawaii Chocolate and Cacao Assn. 3/12-13/2016. Labeling protocol was adopted by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture as Hawaii Administrative Rules 4-138 Hawaii-grown Cacao and Hawaiian Chocolate Products July
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2016 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C. 2016. HSCT Update for 2015. Proceedings of Hawaii Chocolate and Cacao Assn. on HCCA web site. 15 March 2016. http://hawaiichocolate.org/
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C. 2016. Hawaii Cacao Survey 2016. Proceedings of Hawaii Chocolate and Cacao Assn. on HCCA web site. 15 March 2016. http://hawaiichocolate.org/
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C. and Kawabata, A. 2016. Coffee Berry Borer Survey Report. 45pp. 2015-2016.


Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience:Stakeholders are both farm gate product and value-added farmers of cacoa, coffee, and kava, processors and manufacturers of retail products, extension faculty, undergrad and graduate students, other scientists, consumers. Changes/Problems:A six site on Oahu, a high rainfall area was identified. The field was and partially development but abandoned due to drainage problems. Another field will be developed at the site. All sites beyond Oahu have been abandoned due to increased transportation cost and new farmers' inability to managing the trial site. Possibly climate change has increased west winds in the winter resulted in leaf lost and tree and crop damage. Additional windbreaks will be established. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Cacao: two interns (Japan and Brazil) worked on the cacao and chocolateproduction in 2014-2015. A graduate student joined the project in August. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Cacao: Continue harvesting and fermentation ofharvested cacao from on Oahu island HSCT sites. Provide additional dry fermented, roasted cacao seed pieces (nibs) to a private professional chocolate taster of 10 selections across 4 sites. Begin writing journal article on the development of a single pod fermentation system and protocol. Kava: Continue organization of KavaFest.Develop a small scale in pots collection ofkava varieties in a CTAHR shade house to provide a more disease and pest free environment to preserve varieties for research and propagules. Coffee: Continue annual CBB survey to provide the industry with statistically based picture of their fight with CBB. Begin on-farm mechanized desuckering experiment for mechanically harvested coffee, as half of coffee area in the state is mechanically harvested.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Cacao: Four Hawaii State-wide Cacao Trial sites planted in 2010 began bearing fruit. Yields from several selections already exceed yields of producing seedling orchards. Yield to date was presented to farmers in March and August 2015. Using our new micro scale (under 1 kg) fermentation system (programmed incubator, fermenters, protocol) to produce commercial quality cacao I submitted the first samples for professional pro bono evaluation. 100 chocolate samples for 2013 and 2014 harvests from these sites were evaluated by a tasting panel and analyzed showing significant differences between sites and trees. Coffee: Continued use of an online survey instrument, analyzed and reported results and conclusions to the Hawaii coffee industry and scientist colleagues in CTAHR, USDA, and HDOA for the 2014 survey. The fifth CBB survey was sent in early September 2015. Initiated project with colleague (Dr. Pratibha Nerukar) of impact of coffee consumption on metabolic syndrome. Kava: The 2014 Hawaii and Pacific Island Kava Festival (11th KavaFest) was attended by over 1300 members of the public. The educational festival involves tastings of Hawaii kava varieties, educational posters, and 1 on 1 discussions with the public, kava farmers and my team of volunteers. The 2015 festival site will be moved to a larger location on campus due to expanding interest in kava. The replanted CTAHR kava germplasm collection has improved due to a new emeritus professor providing regular maintenance. Over 500 propagules were distributed to non-profit farm organizations.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Wang, J., Qu, W., Bittenbender, H.C., and Li, Q.X. 2015. Kavalactone content and chemotype of kava beverages prepared from roots and rhizomes of Isa and Mahakea varieties and extraction efficiency of kavalactones using different solvents. J Food Sci Technol. 2015 Feb; 52(2):1164-9. doi: 10.1007/s13197-013-1047-2
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C. 2015. Hawaii Cacao Survey 2015. Proceedings of Hawaii Cacao & Chocolate Association on the HCCA web site http://hawaiichocolate.org/14 March 2015.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C., Burbano Greco, E., and Kawabata, A. 2015. 2014-15 Coffee Berry Borer Survey Report. 45pp. CTAHR, University of Hawaii.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C. 2015. HSCT Update for 2014. Proceedings of Hawaii Cacao & Chocolate Association on the HCCA web site http://hawaiichocolate.org/14 March 2015.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C. 2015. Labeling chocolate made from Cacao Grown in the state of Hawaii. Proceedings of Big Island Cacao Conference. Hilo, Hawaii, 8/26/2015.


Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14

Outputs
Target Audience: Coffee. Coffee farmers throughout the state via the Hawaii Coffee Assn. The state-wide coffee organization, were addressed at theirannual meeting. Farmers on Hawaii Island via my annual August survey of their efforts on and impacts of the coffee berry borer. Results are emailed to coffee leaders throughout the state, Hawaii –island farmers who requested a copy, CTAHR scientists, extension agents and specialists, ARS scientists at PBARC, HDOA officers and every coffee industry organizations for distribution to members. Cacao. Cacao farmers through the state via my annual cacao production survey. More focused monthly interaction with the Hawaii Chocolate and Cacao Association (HCCA) Board of Directors and cooperators of my Hawaii State-wide Cacao (variety) Trial (HSCT). Potential cacao farmers via participation in AgDays on various islands and Chocolate Festivals. Kava. Primary audience was board of the ‘Awa Development Council as we held the 10th Hawaii and Pacific Island Kava Festival (KavaFest) Oct 12, 2013 and planned for the 11th annual KavaFest. Between 1000 and 1200 members of the public particularly undergraduate students attend the KavaFest where they are educated about kava and its role in traditional and modern societies. Changes/Problems: Cacao: Cost and cooperator inexperience has forced me to reduce my HSCT activities on neighbor islands. A high rainfall site will be planted on Oahu to make up for lost of high rainfall sites on neighbor islands. Coffee: The arrival of coffee berry borer on Oahu threatens mechanized coffee production in Hawaii and present unique management issues not seen elsewhere in the coffee growing regions. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Cacao. Results presented in person at HCCA annual conference (state-wide cacao organization) , the Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers and via 100 emails for CTAHR generated research-based information specifically addressing questions. Coffee. Results presented in person at Hawaii Coffee Assn. annual conference (state-wide coffee organization) and via email of the report as pdf file. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Cacao: Continue harvesting and fermentation ofharvested cacao from on island HSCT sites and begingrowth and harvest data collectionoff-island sites. Provide additional dry fermented samples to a private professional chocolate taster of 10 selections across 4 sites. Complete effort to get cacao on a Special Local Needs label for imidacloprid (Admire Pro). Begin working on a extension bulletin ‘Growing Cacao in Hawaii’ and a journal article on the response yield and chocolate quality response of various genotypes. Kava. Continue organization of KavaFest. Develop a small scale in pots collection ofkava varieties in a CTAHR shade house to provide a more disease and pest free environment to preserve varieties for research and propagules. Coffee. Continue annual CBB survey to provide the industry with statistically based picture of their fight with CBB. Begin working with CTAHR colleague and mechanized coffee farmers for control of the coffee berry borer that has been found on Oahu Island. Begin harvesting of on-farm mechanized pruning and desuckering of mechanically harvested coffee, as half of coffee area in the state is mechanically harvested.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Cacao. The Hawaii Chocolate and Cacao Association (HCCA) which I held a three day program in 2014. Four Hawaii State-wide Cacao Trial sites planted in 2010 began bearing fruit. Yields from several selections already exceed yields of producing seedling orchards. Requests for CTAHR-developed information on establishment and management of cacao farms increased to over 60 requests year. An effort to understand and manage cacao pest and diseases issues led to joining a funded cacao disease proposal with Dr. Uchida in our Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences (PEPS) department. I and another PEPS scientist initiated an on-farm trial to evaluate several pesticides to control the Chinese rose beetle ( Adoretus sinicus) feeding damage and to provide data for manufacturer approval of the imidacloprid based insecticide (Admire Pro). Using our new micro scale (under 1 kg ) fermentation system (programmed incubator, fermenters, protocol) to produce commercial quality cacao I submitted the first samples for professional pro bono evaluation. Coffee: Continued use of a online survey instrument, analyzed and reported results and conclusions to the Hawaii coffee industry and scientist colleagues in CTAHR, USDA, and HDOA. The fourth CBB survey was sent in early September 2014. Already spotted farmers efforts to improve their practices. A new project was initiated replace hazardous herbicide (Gramoxone (paraquat) with Aim (carfentrazone-ethy) to chemically reduce excess vertical stem after stump pruning has more to commercial scale evaluation with tractor-mounted sprays applied in 2014 to be evaluated by mechanical harvesting in 2015. Kava. The 2013Hawaii and Pacific Island Kava Festival (10 th KavaFest) was attended by over 1200 members of the public. The educational festival involves tastings of Hawaii kava varieties, educational posters, and 1 on 1 discussions with the public, kava farmers and my team of volunteers. The replanted CTAHR kava germplasm collection has improved due to a new emeritus professor providing regular maintenance.

Publications

  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C. 2013. Digging deeper: Cultivation and yields. In. Thurston, R.W., Morris, J. and Steiman , S. (EDs) Coffee: a comprehensive guide to the bean, the beverage, and the industry. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham (MD), USA
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Wang, J., Qu, W., Bittenbender, H.C., and Li, Q.X. 2013. Kavalactone content and chemotype of kava beverages prepared from roots and rhizomes of Isa and Mahakea varieties and extraction efficiency of kavalactones using different solvents. J Food Sci Technol DOI 10.1007/s13197-013-1047-2
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C. 2014. HSCT Update for 2014. Proceedings of Hawaii Cacao to Chocolate Assn. on HCCA web site http://hawaiichocolate.org/10 April 2014.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C. 2014. Hawaii Cacao Survey 2014. Proceedings of Hawaii Cacao to Chocolate Assn. on HCCA web site http://hawaiichocolate.org/10 April 2014.
  • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C., Greco, E.B., and Kawabata, A. 2013. 2012-13 Coffee Berry Borer Survey Report. 50pp.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C. 2014. University of Hawaii/CTAHR 2014 Update. Proceedings of Hawaii Coffee Assn. on HCA web site http://www.hawaiicoffeeassoc.org/ 1 August 2014.


Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/13

Outputs
Target Audience: Coffee. Farmers in Kona were contacted in my annual August survey their efforts on and impacts of the coffee berry borer. Results were emailed to CTAHR, ARS, HDOA and coffee industry organizations for distribution to members. Members of the Hawaii Coffee Assn the state-wide, were addressed at their annual meeting. Cacao. Following a survey of cacao farmers and chocolate manufacturers in early 2012 I helped organize the Hawaii Chocolate and Cacao Assn (HCCA) which held its first conference in Feb 2012 with 50 farmers and chocolate manufacturers. More focused monthly interaction with the HCCA Board of Directors and cooperators of my Hawaii State-wide Cacao (variety) Trial (HSCT). Kava. Primary audience was board of the ‘Awa Development Council as we planned the 2013 annual Hawaii and Pacific Island Kava Festival (KavaFest). Over 1000 members of the public particularly undergraduate students attended the Oct 12, 2012 KavaFest where they are educated about kava and its role in traditional and modern societies. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Cacao. Presented a workshop of cacao growing to Kauai cacao and would be cacao growers, attended by 30 people. Interacting with the 16 cooperators in the HSCT provided opportunity to train cooperators on cacao farm establishment and management on a 1 to 1 basis. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Cacao. Results presented in person at HCCA annual conference (state-wide cacao organization) , the Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers and via 60 emails for CTAHR generated research-based information specifically addressing questions. Coffee. Results presented in person at Hawaii Coffee Assn. annual conference (state-wide coffee organization) and via email of the report as pdf file. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Cacao: Write a grant to hire a graduate student to collect data from off island HSCT sites. Add a final three newly planted sites (3) to HSCT. Continue harvesting and fermentation of harvested cacao from on island HSCT sites and begin growth and harvest data collection off-island sites. Provide dry fermented samples to the Mars chocolate company to do an evaluation of chocolate made for the 10 selections across the 16 participating sites. Complete effort to get cacao on a Special Local Needs label for imidacloprid (Admire Pro). Organize a grafting and fermentation workshop for the 2014 HCCA conference. Kava. Continue organization of KavaFest. Develop a small scale in pots collection of kava varieties in a CTAHR shade house to provide a more disease and pest free environment to preserve varieties for research and propagules. Coffee. Continue annual CBB survey to provide the industry with statistically based picture of their fight with CBB. Initiate a commercial size, on-farm experiment to develop criteria to control coffee regrowth from stump pruning.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Cacao. The Hawaii Chocolate and Cacao Association (HCCA) which I organized based on a industry survey held its first general membership meeting and expanded the educational conference in spring 2013. HCCA plans a two day program in 2014. Seven additional on-farm HSCT trials were established cooperating farmers on Hawaii, Kauai, Molokai, and Oahu. Each trial contains 10 CTAHR-grafted selections replicated 4 times. Two sites planted in 2010 began bearing fruit.. Requests for CTAHR-developed information on establishment and management of cacao farms increased to over 60 requests year. An effort to understand and manage cacao pest and diseases issues led to joining a funded cacao disease proposal with Dr. Uchida in our Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences department. I collected data for EPA and manufacturer approval of the imidacloprid based insecticide (Admire Pro) to control Chinese rose beetle feeding damage. We successfully implemented a new micro scale (under 1 kg) fermentation system (programmed incubator, fermenters, protocol) to produce commercial quality for chocolate evaluation in support of the HSCT. Coffee: Developed an online survey instrument, implemented, analyzed and reported results and conclusions to the Hawaii coffee industry and scientist colleagues in CTAHR, USDA, and HDOA. This third CBB survey has already improved farmers practices. A new project was initiated replace hazardous herbicide (Gramoxone (paraquat) with Aim (carfentrazone-ethy) to chemically reduce excess vertical stem after stump pruning. Commercial size plots that can be mechanically harvested will be implemented in 2014. Kava. The 2012 Hawaii and Pacific Island Kava Festival (9th KavaFest) was attended by over 1000 members of the public. The educational festival involves tastings of Hawaii kava varieties, educational posters, and 1 on 1 discussions with the public, kava farmers and my team of volunteers. The replanted CTAHR kava germplasm collection was set back by a kava dieback disease outbreak made worse by drought and restricted irrigation.

Publications

  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C. 2013. Digging deeper: Cultivation and yields. In. Thurston, R.W., Morris, J. and Steiman , S. (EDs) Coffee: a comprehensive guide to the bean, the beverage, and the industry. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham (MD), USA
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Wang, J., Qu, W., Bittenbender, H.C., and Li, Q.X. 2013. Kavalactone content and chemotype of kava beverages prepared from roots and rhizomes of Isa and Mahakea varieties and extraction efficiency of kavalactones using different solvents. J Food Sci Technol DOI 10.1007/s13197-013-1047-2
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C. 2013. University of Hawaii/CTAHR 2013 Update. Proceedings of Hawaii Coffee Assn. on HCA web site http://www.hawaiicoffeeassoc.org/ 10 August 2013.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Bittenbender, H.C., Greco, E.B., and Kawabata, A. 2013. 2012-13 Coffee Berry Borer Survey Report. 50pp.


Progress 10/01/11 to 09/30/12

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Kava. No new experiments initiated. Over 400 stem pieves of Hawaiian varieties to provided to farmers who wanted to expand their varieties grown. A survey of taste preferences from 338 festival attendees mostly college students and Honolulu residents of four varieties prepared as beverage two ways from fresh root and stump at the 9th Kava Festival (2011) was reported to the kava industry. Four kava varieties were selected and harvested from the collection in early Sep for the 10th Kava Festival (2012) in late October. The UH/CTAHR kava variety planting in Waimanalo was replanted in mid September, 2012 with 15 varieties, totaling 135 plants. Coffee. Developed, conducted, analyzed and reported to the Hawaii Coffee Berry Borer task Force including scientists at UH and ARS/USDA, to coffee organization leaders, and to coffee farmers and millers on first on-line survey (Survey Monkey) on coffee berry borer (CBB) in Hawaii, what farmers are doing to control CBB and its damage. 125 farmers and millers participate. The 2012 CBB survey was revised with coffee extension agent and researchers to clarify the questions so that a consistent series of questions and responses will be obtained when closed later in 2012. Specialist participated in 2 workshops and 1 state-wide conferences, and edited and posted on the presentations on the Hawaii Coffee Assn website. All presentations are available for download by the public. Cacao. Four more cooperating farms on Oahu, Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui islands were planted with the Hawaii statewide cacao variety trial (HSCT) of 10 grafted varieties in 4 replications per cooperator. The planting is done by my student and I with help from cooperators which becomes a one day workshop for other farmers on cacao establishment. Total sites in HSCT now is 12 with 480 grafted trees and replacement trees when necessary. Based on my on-line, needs survey of cacao farmers and chocolate makers the Hawaii Chocolate and Cacao Assn (HCCA) was formed and held its first education conference in Feb 2012. My graduate student and I had two presentations, Cacao in Hawaii: site selection and establishment and Harvesting, post harvest handling, fermentation, and drying for small farms in Hawaii. I made and edited video of all presentations for the HCCA website. An update of the HSCT and two field experiments demonstrating that cacao seed can be field planted without using nursery-grown transplants were completed, analyzed, presented at the 25th Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers Assn. conference in Sep 2012. All posters and presentations in pdf format are available for download by the public. A Fulbright scholar from the Philippines studying cacao, on-line survey development, and extension participation to develop our new cacao to chocolate industry was in my lab for 5 months. PARTICIPANTS: Coffee. Participants on Coffee Berry Borer include 1 extension agent and 1 post doc partnered with me to conduct surveys of coffee farmers in Kona. Cacao. One graduate student, 1 extension agent, 2 UH experiment station managers, and 10 farmer cooperators ( family as well as corporate). Number of cooperators will increase. Corporate and NGOs are Dole food, Mars Inc, Hawaii Agricultural Research Center on the Hawaii Statewide Cacao Trial. My graduate student research assistant is paid by the project and has gained propagation, management, post harvest handling, fermentation, drying, chocolate making. This was sufficient for Mars Inc. to offer him a 6 wk internship at their research farm in Brazil which he completed in late 2011. Kava. My partners are 1 biological engineer and 10 graduate students from various departments who assist in planting, harvesting, preparing kava and operating the kava tasting at the 9th annual Kava Fest. TARGET AUDIENCES: Coffee. 700 Coffee farmers and millers, 6 coffee organizations and 2 extension agents, as well as scientists at UH and ARS/USDA in Hilo, and Hawaii Dept of Agriculture personnel working on CBB management. Cacao. 50 cacao farmers and chocolate makers and general public. Kava. 20 Kava farmers, 10 kava merchants, Awa Development Council, UH students and general public attending annual Kava Festival. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
Kava. The impact of the 9th annual Hawaii Pacific Islands Kava Festival aka KavaFest was 1500 attendees gained knowledge about this ancient beverage of the South Pacific. Four new kava cafes opened the state. The prices of imported dried kava and Hawaii-grown fresh frozen kava both increased by 15%. Two new kava product companies started on the continental US in this past year and their owners flew to Honolulu to participate in the 2011 KavaFest. Coffee. The first CBB survey showed that farmers found CTAHR participation in coffee organizations' workshops most important followed by CTAHR workshops, CTAHR CBB webpage, and talking with CTAHR staff as sources of information to control CBB. Use of CTAHR-promoted measure of CBB damage called the Marketable Green Bean Recovery Ratio (MGBRR) is being adopted by estate growers and millers that purchase coffee cherry (fruit containing the green beans) as sensitive, low cost method albeit not available until after the harvest and processing to green bean. Next years survey will quantify the impact of CBB control technology and its extension. Cacao. Virtually all new cacao farms are using white or latex-painted film covered cages for establishment which we have been recommending for the past 3 years. Email and calls for our CTAHR experience-based information on cacao farm establishment has increased 100% to 50 this past year. This is particularly the case for large (over 5 acres) farms. My survey of needs and issues resulted in the formation of the Hawaii Chocolate and Cacao Assn. which has 20 members, a quarterly on-line newsletter, and is already upgrading its website to handle centralized information of all aspects of cacao growing in Hawaii. As advisor to HCCA the organization has taken stands on quarantine aspects of importing dry cacao beans for chocolate. My research assistant and now graduate student has become the most sought after consultant on cacao establishment and small scale fermentation in the state.

Publications

  • Bittenbender, H.C. 2012. University of Hawaii/CTAHR 2012 Update. Proceedings of Hawaii Coffee Assn. on HCA web site http://www.hawaiicoffeeassoc.org/ 8 August 2012.
  • Bittenbender, H.C. 2012. Small farm harvesting, fermenting and drying cacao. Proceedings of Hawaii Cacao to Chocolate Assn. on HCCA web site http://hawaiichocolate.org/16 April 2012.


Progress 10/01/10 to 09/30/11

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Kava. No new experiments initiated. A collection of Hawaiian, Fijian, Samoan, and Tongan varieties is maintained to supply kava for research and extension. Results of a farmer and processor survey were reported the kava industry in late 2010. Propagation materials - stems- were provided from 10 varieties to 10 growers who requested Hawaiian varieties. My lab provided kava beverage prepared from the CTAHR variety collection to evaluate taste preferences comparing varieties and preparation styles at the 6th Kava Festival (2010). We received 300 surveys, analyzed and reported to the kava industry. Coffee. Working with a recent CTAHR PhD student on whose committee I served, we made the first discovery of coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hamper aka CBB ) in Hawaii reported to industry, state, and federal officials. We hired her as junior researcher/specialist to translate from Spanish current CBB control technology and begin adaptation for Hawaii conditions. Five workshops were organized to explain the situation to farmers and processors and provide control measures based on the most recent information from the leading coffee institutes in Latin America. Materials and videos were developed and links posted on front page of the CTAHR webpage, written in both English and Spanish- for ag laborers. An industry wide internet-based survey of CBB issues, damage, and use of technology was developed and tested in September 2011 for sending out in November 2011. Cacao. Six cooperating farms and two UH experimental farms on Oahu and Hawaii island have been planted with Hawaii statewide variety trial of 10 grafted varieties in 4 replications (40 trees) and replacement trees when necessary. Remaining sites on Maui, Kauai, and Big Island will planted in 2011-12 season. Two field experiments were planted in June and September 2011 demonstrating that cacao can be field planted a seed without using nursery-grown transplants started. These compare the efficacy of different fabrics attached to wire cages (122 cm tall, 25 cm diameter) to reduce light, wind, insect, weed, herbicide drift, and string trimmer damage to cacao seedlings. Micro-scale fermentation studies (less than 2 lb samples) using Drosophilia fruit flies were initiated toward the end of the 2010 season. Colonies of flies from 2 sources including a cacao fermentery were started in September 2011 in preparation for experiments for the 2011 crop starting in October 2011. Eight presentations and workshops including tasting our chocolate were made during the year reaching more that 300 people. The second Cacao production internet survey was completed in late September and emailed and presented orally to . PARTICIPANTS: Daniel ODoherty is a graduate assistant on the cacao portion of the project, present throughout entire year. Madel Estrada is a fulbright scholar from the Philippines studying extension issues in cacao. She arrived in August 2011 and continues through January 2012. Diane Gulliemot a undergraduate intern from France worked on cacao from 04/15/2011 to 09/15/2011. Dr. Elsie Burbano is junior researcher who worked the entire year on CCB. My collaborating organizations are the Awa Development Council for the Kava Festival and the Hawaii Coffee Association. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences for kava were consumers, kava farmers, and kava product retailers both in Hawaii and other states. Target audiences for coffee were the coffee farmers and processors in Hawaii specifically to use our recommendations for controlling coffee berry borer. Target audiences for cacao were consumers, cacao farmers and chocolatiers. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Kava The 2010 Kava festival was the largest to date with over 1200 participants. Based upon our kava grower and retailer surveys production and demand are increasing in Hawaii. Several new Hawaii-grown and/or manufactured kava based products were introduced this year further supporting our claim that the CTAHR and non-profit kava trade organization sponsored Kava festival is growing the demand for kava. The 2011 festival scheduled for Oct 8, 2011 had more vendors signed than any previous kava festival. Coffee Providing the latest CBB control information less that 2 months after the outbreak resulted in active efforts by the HDOA to implement a quarantine to prevent CBB infestation of the rest of the coffee industry. HDOA then approved fungus-based insecticide (Mycotrol O ) for Hawaii in early 2011. Implementation and adaptation of the 3 major control strategies by coffee farmers in 2011 was shown by 20,000 CBB traps made in Hawaii and importation of 20 barrels of ethanol and methanol to bait these traps. My 2011-12 report will detail our extension education impact by a survey of the implementation of our control recommendations that will be sent in November 2011. Cacao Workshop of cacao at first Hawaii Chocolate Festival (2/2011) and subsequent survey led to a. organizational meeting for a Hawaii Cacao and Chocolate Association in September 2011 and follow up meetings scheduled later in 2011. The 2011 cacao production survey showed that projected plantings (acreage) and new farms increased over 50 and 20 % respectively from the 2010 survey. Our recommendations for seedling production in stiff, reuseable pots, and fabric or film covered cages are being used on virtually all new cacao farms.

Publications

  • Bittenbender, H.C. 2011. University of Hawaii/CTAHR 2011 Update. Proceedings of Hawaii Coffee Assn. on HCA web site http://www.hawaiicoffeeassoc.org/ 08/01/2011.
  • Bittenbender, H.C. 2011. Best Management Practices for Coffee Berry Borer Video (19 min) http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/site/CBB.aspx 04/30/2011.
  • Steiman, S., Idol, T., Bittenbender, H.C., and Gautz, L. 2011. Shade coffee in Hawaii- exploring some aspects of quality, growth, yield, and nutrition. Scientia Horticulturae. 128: 152-158.
  • Hebbar, P., Bittenbender, H.C., and ODoherty, D. 2010. Farm and Forestry Production and Marketing Profile for Cacao (Theobroma cacao). In: Elevitch, C.R. (ed.). Specialty Crops for Pacific Island Agroforestry. Permanent Agriculture Resources (PAR), Holualoa, Hawaii.


Progress 10/01/09 to 09/30/10

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Outputs of this project are listed by commodity . Kava: I partnered with the 'Awa Development Council, a 401(3c) non-profit, to organize the 6th annual Hawaii and Pacific islands Kava Festival aka KavaFest at the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus on Saturday October 3, 2009 from 9 am to 6 pm. My volunteers and I sponsored a kava tasting of 4 Hawaiian kava cultivars from germplasm collection I developed and maintain at college experiment station. These kavas were processed as fresh frozen and sun-dried and made into beverage for public evaluation. Over 200 consumers tasted and completed a preference survey. Tasters both novice and experienced preferred beverage prepared from fresh frozen kava to beverage prepared from dry kava. These evaluations found were sent to kava grower and wholesalers Coffee: I collected and provided the college research and extension updates at the Hawaii Coffee Association'(HCA) annual meeting on July 17, 2010 and at the Kona Coffee Farmers Association (KCFA) annual Coffee Expo on January 15, 2010. These presentations were posted on the associations' web sites and emailed to the college coffee research and extension faculty. I prepared for web posting all the presentations at theI also represented the college at board meetings of the Hawaii Coffee Association and the Hawaii Coffee Growers Association. In August I received insect infested coffee samples, tentative identification led to me to alert HI Dept of Agriculture, USDA and college officials of a likely new coffee pest in Hawaii. It was later confirmed to be coffee berry borer. Written materials were prepared and distributed. A fourth attempt to evaluate kaolin clay to boost coffee yields was made by establishing a field experiment with Waialua Coffee. The previous experiment was stopped due to irrigation problems. Cacao: Over 200 cacao seedlings rootstocks were produced and grafted from scion wood produced from 50 stock plants produced from 10 selected trees representing a genetically diverse collection of seedlings and commercial varieties. Four sites of the Hawaii State-wide Cacao Trial (HSCT) were planted on Oahu island. Several fermentation and storage experiments were completed. Our lab prepared chocolate for and participated in several chocolate themed events. Two issues of 'C2C', my cacao newsletter, were sent to members of the cacao to chocolate industry, The newsletter and other information was posted on my Hawaii Cacao page on 'The Chocolate Life' , a commercial chocolate web site. PARTICIPANTS: Kava. The Awa Development Council a 401 (3c) and its President Jonathan Yee for the KavaFest. Coffee. The Waialua Coffee company with material support from John Lopez of Valent Biosciences and Kurt Volker of TKI Novasource for the kaolin experiment. Tom Greenwell, President, Hawaii Coffee Association and Chuck Moss, President, Kona Coffee Farmers Association. Cacao. HSCT participants are Mike ConwayNorth Chocolate Company (Dole Foods), Mike Leaver, Kualoa Ranch, Jaime Grezbik CTAHR Urban Garden Center, Roger Corrales CTAHR Waimanalo Experiment Farm, and Ed Sequine Mars Inc. My research assistant Dan O'Doherty. TARGET AUDIENCES: Kava. Kava farmers and wholesalers, other college faculty including extension agents, general public particularly college students at KavaFest, and the general public. Coffee. Members of HCA and KCFA, and coffee farmers and industry and other college faculty including extension agents, and the general public. Cacao. Cacao farmers, chocolatiers in Hawaii and other states, other college faculty including extension agents, and the general public in Hawaii. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Outcome and Impacts are discussed by commodity. Kava. Attendance at 6 th annual KavaFest was the largest to date. This educational, cultural, and entertaining festival on campus is becoming institutionalized. A dozen permanent volunteers including two other colleges are repeat volunteers. They bring new volunteers each year to help run the festival. This impacted the local demand for kava such that farm gate price and demand is rising in the state as reported by growers to a on-line survey. My germplasm collection supplied stems request for propagation by 2 growers and one commercial nursery. Two new kava beverage companies started in Hawaii based on our lab's assistance and survey of the public of these products at our kava tasting table at KavaFest. Coffee. The infested coffee samples mentioned above contained the coffee berry borer. A task force was formed involving farmers, processors, college, USDA, and Hawaii Dept of Agriculture as a coordinated response to this problem. Cacao. The planting the first HSCT sites plus the wider visibility on The Chocolate Life website resulted in 20 requests from farmers to participate in the HSCT. All new cacao plantings are still seedlings but farmers are using tree shelters either commercial plastic sleeves (4" dia) or home-made plastic sheeting covered wire cages (10-12" dia) which we introduced based our research. We now recommend direct seeding cacao into these shelters and thus avoiding nurseries and transplanting, the first commercial attempt was done in September.

Publications

  • Bittenbender, H.C. 2010. University of Hawaii/CTAHR 2010 Update. Proceedings of Hawaii Coffee Assn. on HCA web site http://www.hawaiicoffeeassoc.org/ 1 August 2010.
  • Wang, Jun, Weiyue Qu, Soojin Jun, H.C. Bittenbender, and Qing X. Li. 2010. Rapid determination of six kavalactones in kava root and rhizome samples using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and multivariate analysis comparison with gas chromatography. Anal. Methods 2:492-498.
  • Kandukuru, P.; Huang, A.; Dong, J.; Bittenbender, H.; Li, Yong. 2009. Rapid identification of bacterial isolates from aqueous kava (Piper methysticum) extracts by polymerase chain reaction and DNA sequencing. Letters in Applied Microbiology 49: 764-768.
  • Bittenbender, H.C. 2010. C2C Newsletter 2. posted on http://www.thechocolatelife.com/ March 2010
  • Bittenbender, H.C. 2010. C2C Newsletter 3. http://www.thechocolatelife.com/ August 2010.


Progress 10/01/08 to 09/30/09

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Kava The 5th Hawaii and Pacific Islands Kava Festival (KavaFest) was held on the University of Hawaii Manoa campus on Oct 11, 2008. Festival was attended by over 1200 people from the university and general community. I sponsored a kava tasting table of 11 different kava preparations and surveyed over 400 tasters. Most popular was a kava extract based beverage that our lab assisted the manufacturer with taste evaluation. The St John Hall kava circle, an informal opportunity for faculty, students, and kava industry members, and those interested in kava science continues in my lab. Cacao Attempts to propagate selected seedlings using rooted cuttings was discontinued. Instead we created rooted stock plants to provide scions for grafting using an air layering technique. We developed and tested a micro-grafting technique using green wood scions onto seedling rootstocks in the cotyledon stage. Our expectation is that by grafting below the cotyledons we will reduce the amount of rootstock orthotropic shoots produced. We created 5 grafted stock plants of 10 of the eleven selections. We have germinated the first 50 seedlings to be field planted as grafted trees late in 2009. Selected seedlings and named varieties to be used as scions for the Hawaii state-wide Cacao to Chocolate trial are : varieties ICS 95 and Amelonado from the USDA Cacao germplasm collection in Hilo, HI; 3 seedlings selection from a farm on Oahu, 3 seedlings from the UH cacao planting in Waimanalo, 2 criollo seedlings, and 1 seedlings identified in Hilo to be black pod tolerant. Cooperators on Oahu island were identified and sites area being prepared. Based upon encouraging results from Erik Kling's MS research with tree shelters, we planted a six treatment establishment experiment in the largest commercial cacao orchard to compare different height and diameter pink tree shelters (Plantra, Inc, Minneapolis, MN) with grower made translucent film over wire cages. Coffee Based upon encouraging results from Shwan Steiman's PhD research with a kaolin based spray-on-film for increasing yields of sun-grown coffee, an experiment was initiated. Two products are Kaolin (TKI NovaSource) and a wax-based spray-on-film (Valent BioSciences) were included. A dry boom sprayer with a vertical knockdown was fabricated and used. I presented the college research and extension report at the 14 annual Hawaii Coffee Association conference and edited the web-based proceedings. PARTICIPANTS: Kava Work with the Awa Development Council http://awadevelopment.org/ a 501(c)3 public charitable organization. Organizes the annual Hawaii Pacific Islands Kava Festival AHA (Assocation for Hawaiian Awa), statewide organization of Hawaiian awa experts. St. John Kava circle ( faculty and students from UH Manoa and Hawaii Pacific University Cacao Dole Foods Waialua Chocolate company, Hawaii. Approxiamately 30 Hawaii and out-of-state based farmers of and processors of Hawaii-grown cacao. Cacao Chapter of Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers Assn. Plantra Tree Shelters (Minn, MN) Coffee Hawaii Coffee Association members and leaders Hawaii Coffee Growers Association members and leaders TARGET AUDIENCES: Kava University of Hawaii community and general public Kava farmers Kava consumers Cacao Farmers and hobbyists, chocolatiers in Hawaii, legislators, general public.. Coffee Coffee Farmers, Processors, Roasters, general public. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
Kava The increasing attendance at the annual Kavafest is stimulating interest in kava resulting in increased prices paid for kava to growers and increased sales of kava for Hawaii and mail order exports to other states. Colorado-based Relaxing Soda, Inc. released a kava extract-based, bottled, sweetened beverage in July 2009. Part of their business plan was based on Ozia the Hawaii-based product that our lab assisted in development. Telephone interviews with US newspapers on kava issues increased from 2 to 4 from the previous year. Cacao Recommendations based on my student's MS research with tree shelters led Plantra, Inc. manufacturer of the tree shelters donating all the tree shelters used in the Establishment experiment and an additional 150 units for the state-wide variety trial. These tree shelters were used on a 5 acre farm planted on Hawaii island based upon our work. A new student joined my program focusing on cacao to chocolate production. Three on-farm cooperators on Oahu and 4 on Hawaii island are preparing land for our variety trial. Background and issues framed in the Future of Cacao in Hawaii meeting were fully incorporated into the Cacao Taskforce report, A Report to Expedite the Production and Delivery of Hawaii Cacao to the Marketplace to the Hawaii State Legislature, by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture released September 2009 in Response to House Concurrent Resolution No. 326, H.D. 2. Coffee Two companies donated spray product for one year of the experiment plus $2500 for my UH Foundation account. Demand for my coffee production book, Growing Coffee in Hawaii continues. After the second 2000 copy reprinting and update in 2005, it was placed on free download.

Publications

  • Bittenbender, H.C. 2009. University of Hawaii/CTAHR 2008 Update. Proceedings of Hawaii Coffee Assn. July 10-12, 2009 on HCA web site URL link for papers presented at Hawaii Coffee Association including mine and edited by me: http://www.hawaiicoffeeassoc.org/conference09.htm November 10, 2009
  • Fleming, Kent, V.E. Smith, and H.C. Bittenbender. 2009. The Economics of Cacao Production in Kona. AB-17, CTAHR, Univ. Hawaii, Honolulu, HI , 12 pp.
  • Wang, Jun , Soojin Jun, H.C. Bittenbender, Loren Gautz, and Qing X. Li. 2009. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy for Kona Coffee Authentication. J. Food Science 74 (5) : 385-391.
  • Bittenbender, H.C. and E. Kling. 2009. Making Chocolate from Scratch. FS&T-33. CTAHR, Univ. Hawaii, Honolulu, HI. 5 pp.


Progress 10/01/07 to 09/30/08

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Kava The 5th Hawaii and Pacific Islands Kava Festival (KavaFest)was held on the University of Hawaii Manoa campus on Oct 6 and 7th, 2007. Festival was attended by over 1200 people from the university and general community. The second day of the festival was a Kava Science Symposium featuring 10 scientific papers on kava and issues related ban on kava in Europe. The 6th KavaFest is planned for Oct 11, 2008. Cacao Attempts to propagate selected seedlings using rooted cuttings was discontinued. Instead we created rooted stock plants to provide buds for grafting using an air layering technique. We now have at least two stock plants of orthotropic shoots from each of the selections for the state-wide trial. PARTICIPANTS: Kava Work with the Awa Development Council http://awadevelopment.org/ a 501(c)3 publica charitable organization. Cacao Dole Foods Waialua Chocolate company, Hawaii. TARGET AUDIENCES: Kava University of Hawaii community and general public Cacao Farmers and hobbyists, chocolatiers in Hawaii. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Kava The increasing attendance at the annual Kavafest is stimulating interest in kava resulting in increased prices paid for kava to growers and increased sales of kava for Hawaii and mail order exports to other states. The kava circle has provided the opportunity for two new projects on kava in the private sector. One on product development project that now produces the commercial, ready to drink, kava extract-based beverage called Ozia. The other a new research effort in the private sector to evaluate the response of patients with extreme tremor to kava. Cacao By September 2008 three cacao growers on different islands had already adopted the new establishment system we developed, before the graduate student even finished his thesis.

Publications

  • URL link for papers presented at Kava Science Symposium on Oct 7, 2007 http://awadevelopment.org/presentations.htm January 28, 2009.