ISHS Acta Horticulturae 681: IV International Congress on Artichoke
GENETIC IMPROVEMENT OF ARTICHOKE: PRELIMINARY RESULTS |
| Authors: | P. Papalini, G. Zuccherelli, M. Ventura |
| Keywords: | Genetic improvement, Cynara scolymus L., cultivars |
| Abstract:
In the last 20 years, genetic improvement has greatly modified the range of cultivars in the horticultural species, except for artichoke. Since ancient times, different artichoke cultivars, specific for their own cultivation areas, have been selected for shape, colour and thorns of capitula. Consumers are so accustomed to these old well known cultivars that they are recalcitrant to any new cultivars that could change their standards. Our program of genetic improvement in the spring artichoke was aimed at obtaining new cultivars suitable for fresh consumption, for exporting and for the more and more interesting processing industry. The main goals of our genetic improvement program are: to increase the productivity and the quality, trying to obtain cultivars suitable for specific uses; to obtain cultivars both for fresh market and for processing; to widen the harvesting calendar from January till end of May, in order to have more market flexibility both for the farmer and for the consumer. From this program of genetic breeding we obtained the interesting artichoke cultivars, ‘Apollo’, ‘C3 Vitroplant’, ‘Chiarostar’, ‘Etrusco’, ‘Exploter’, ‘Moro di Corneto’, ‘Pacific’, and many other genetic lines of more recent constitution which are proof of the wide positive genetic variability present in our experimental fields. | |
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