Articles
Aromatic and medicinal plants gene pool from the VIR collection: diversity and potential
Article number
1358_1
Pages
1 – 10
Language
English
Abstract
The VIR (N.I.Vavilov All-Russian Research Institute of Plant Genetic Resources, St.-Petersburg, Russian Federation) world collection of aromatic and medicinal plants includes about 4500 accessions from 90 countries of various status, which belong to 19 families, 71 genera and 170 species.
The most widely represented families are Lamiaceae (27%), Asteraceae (15%), Polygonaceae (14%), Apiaceae (11%), and Brassicaceae (10%). The largest collections are collections of sorrel (485 accessions), basil (436 acc.), okra (390 acc.), endive (323 acc.), garden cress (325 acc.), fennel (245 acc.), asparagus (166 acc.), mint (128 acc.), savory (120 acc.) and salvia (107 acc.). The VIR is deeply studying such crops as basil, garden cress, arugula, artichoke, chicory, mint, vegetable chrysanthemum and Malabar spinach and analyses morphological, phenological, economically valuable and biochemical characteristics of the accessions.
The main directions in which the study and breeding is carried out are earliness, including in connection with the advancement of southern crops to the north, productivity, resistance to early bolting, resistance to biotic and abiotic stressors, decorativeness, suitability for various cultivation methods, including in pot culture and intensive light culture.
Studies of the biochemical composition of all crops are aimed at determining the content of dry matter, sugars, ascorbic acid, chlorophylls and carotenoids, anthocyanins, phenolic compounds and amino acids.
Also, accessions of mint are studied for the content of essential oils, chicory root and artichoke for the content of inulin.
The obtained phenotypic and biochemical data are used to create trait collections.
The collection is screened annually to identify both new phenotypes for individual traits and for combinations of already known traits.
In recent years, there has been an intensive replenishment of the collection, with special attention paid to medicinal plants.
Now VIR collection includes among others the accessions of valuable plants such as althaea (Althaea officinalis L.), arnica (Arnica montana L.), elecampane (Inula helenium L.), sagebrush (Artemisia L.), tutsan (Hypericum L.), European gromwell (Lithospermum officinale L.), polemonium (Polemonium caeruleum L.) and anthyllis (Anthyllis L.).
The most widely represented families are Lamiaceae (27%), Asteraceae (15%), Polygonaceae (14%), Apiaceae (11%), and Brassicaceae (10%). The largest collections are collections of sorrel (485 accessions), basil (436 acc.), okra (390 acc.), endive (323 acc.), garden cress (325 acc.), fennel (245 acc.), asparagus (166 acc.), mint (128 acc.), savory (120 acc.) and salvia (107 acc.). The VIR is deeply studying such crops as basil, garden cress, arugula, artichoke, chicory, mint, vegetable chrysanthemum and Malabar spinach and analyses morphological, phenological, economically valuable and biochemical characteristics of the accessions.
The main directions in which the study and breeding is carried out are earliness, including in connection with the advancement of southern crops to the north, productivity, resistance to early bolting, resistance to biotic and abiotic stressors, decorativeness, suitability for various cultivation methods, including in pot culture and intensive light culture.
Studies of the biochemical composition of all crops are aimed at determining the content of dry matter, sugars, ascorbic acid, chlorophylls and carotenoids, anthocyanins, phenolic compounds and amino acids.
Also, accessions of mint are studied for the content of essential oils, chicory root and artichoke for the content of inulin.
The obtained phenotypic and biochemical data are used to create trait collections.
The collection is screened annually to identify both new phenotypes for individual traits and for combinations of already known traits.
In recent years, there has been an intensive replenishment of the collection, with special attention paid to medicinal plants.
Now VIR collection includes among others the accessions of valuable plants such as althaea (Althaea officinalis L.), arnica (Arnica montana L.), elecampane (Inula helenium L.), sagebrush (Artemisia L.), tutsan (Hypericum L.), European gromwell (Lithospermum officinale L.), polemonium (Polemonium caeruleum L.) and anthyllis (Anthyllis L.).
Authors
A.B. Kurina, O.A. Zvereva, A.M. Artemyeva
Keywords
medicinal and aromatic plants, VIR collection, biochemical characteristics, economically valuable
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