Uploaded October 2018 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
A review of the new dark purple komatsuna variety Lady Murasaki. This variety is an exciting new crop for us, for while we have grown komatsuna often in the past, there has never been a red or purple variety easily available. What is even more interesting is that Lady Murasaki is open pollinated.
While there have been quite a few dark purple leaved Asian varieties on the market in the last few years these have invariably been hybrids. In brassicas, the modern hybrids have been developed using cell fusion cytoplasmic male sterility, in which cells of the crop are isolated and have their cell walls removed, and their chloroplasts also removed. These cells are then fused with cells of another species that has had its nucleas removed by retains its chloroplasts. When the cells are cultured and allowed to grow, they plants will grow normally, but are unable to produce viable pollen, which makes these lines perfect mother plants for producing hybrids, but it also means they are permanently useless as breeding material for amateur plant breeders.
So the intense purple color in an OP komatsuna is very exciting. It lends itself to breeding with any number of other Asian greens in the same species, Chinese Cabbage, Tatsoi, Pac Choi, Mizuna, etc. It also is a perfect candidate to cross with red cabbage (B. olearacea) to create a red version of Senposai.
It is available from Fedco Seeds. fedcoseeds.com/seeds/search?item=3216
A review of the new dark purple komatsuna variety Lady Murasaki. This variety is an exciting new crop for us, for while we have grown komatsuna often in the past, there has never been a red or purple variety easily available. What is even more interesting is that Lady Murasaki is open pollinated.
While there have been quite a few dark purple leaved Asian varieties on the market in the last few years these have invariably been hybrids. In brassicas, the modern hybrids have been developed using cell fusion cytoplasmic male sterility, in which cells of the crop are isolated and have their cell walls removed, and their chloroplasts also removed. These cells are then fused with cells of another species that has had its nucleas removed by retains its chloroplasts. When the cells are cultured and allowed to grow, they plants will grow normally, but are unable to produce viable pollen, which makes these lines perfect mother plants for producing hybrids, but it also means they are permanently useless as breeding material for amateur plant breeders.
So the intense purple color in an OP komatsuna is very exciting. It lends itself to breeding with any number of other Asian greens in the same species, Chinese Cabbage, Tatsoi, Pac Choi, Mizuna, etc. It also is a perfect candidate to cross with red cabbage (B. olearacea) to create a red version of Senposai.
It is available from Fedco Seeds. fedcoseeds.com/seeds/search?item=3216
