THE CULTIVATION OF YELLOW GENTIAN (GENTIANA LUTEA L.) ON THE PRE-ALPS AND APPENNINIC MOUNTAINS: RESULTS AND APPLICATIONS (1)

Gentian roots, whose use in western European countries is still widespread for bitter and distillates production, starts to be harvested from the cultivation that are carried out in Germany, France and Italy.

In an experimental programme AGRIMED, that took place in Italy during 1985–1989, plants of yellow gentian, coming from various part of Europe were cultivated in different areas (Vallarsa-Trento; Passo Cento Croci-Parma; Passo Godi-L'Aquila).

The results achieved from this programme have been different for the three cultivation areas.

The best results were obtained in the area further north (Vallarsa-Trento), were we observed mainly:

1. the correlation between the weight of the epigeal part and the hypogeal part in order to be able evaluate the production of roots through the esteem of the aerial apparatus; the ratio is about 2.5:1 in the fourth year of cultivation;
2. the production, which in the seventh year of cultivation, has been around 20–22 t.ha-1 of fresh roots.

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