POTENTIAL UTILISATION OF GLOBE ARTICHOKE [CYNARA CARDUNCULUS L. SUBSP. SCOLYMUS (L.) HEGI] CROP RESIDUES: BIOMASS FOR ENERGY AND ROOTS FOR INULIN PRODUCTION

Globe artichoke [Cynara cardunculus L. subsp. scolymus (L.) Hegi] is a vegetable crop, where the fleshy bases of the bracts and the tender, thickened receptacle (‘heads’) are used for human food.
Nowadays, the possibility of using the biomass of artichoke crop residue to produce lignocellulose with energetic or paper-pulp aims, is taken into account.
Also the roots could be used for inulin extraction.
For this purpose a globe artichoke crop at the end of its crop cycle was evaluated for biomass to energy or paper-pulp production and for roots yield, to inulin extraction.
The research was carried out in Sicily (Syracuse) on a traditional crop, two years old, for ‘head’ production, where eight genotypes were tested.
At harvest in the field fresh residual biomass were weighted.
In laboratory the dry matter (DM) content for each part of biomass (leaves, stalks and roots) were evaluated.
Total sugars were extracted from roots and characterised by HPAEC-PAD ‘Dionex 500’. Results show that crop for heads utilisation, at the end of their harvest, give a remaining aboveground biomass production, on average of all genotypes, of 10.3 t ha^-1 DM and it ranged from 5.7 to 15.7 t ha^-1 of DM, partitioned between leaves (53.4 %) and stalks (47.6 %). The root yield resulted, on average of all genotypes, 5.7 t ha^-1 of DM. The total extracted sugars from roots resulted on average of all genotypes, 249
g Kg^-1 of DM, where inulin represents the 89.4 % of total sugars.
Root total sugars yield resulted, on average of all genotypes, 1.41 t ha^-1.

V International Congress on Artichoke

S.A. Raccuia, M.G. Melilli, S. Scandurra

Globe artichoke, crop residues, biomass yield, root yield, inulin content

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2004.660.93