IMPROVEMENT OF ´OVOLI´ PRODUCTION IN GLOBE ARTICHOKE BY REMOVAL OF THE EPIGEAL PART OF THE PLANT

In south Italy, the conventional method for globe artichoke propagation is based on the use of “ovoli” (underground dried shoots with apical and lateral buds), which are harvested during the summer in quiescent plants grown for head production.
The efficiency of this multiplication method often limits the diffusion of new cultivars, above all of those for spring production which produce very few “ovoli”. This research evaluated the effects of removing the apex and epigeal part of the plants on the production and characteristics of “ovoli” in ‘Violet de Provence’, a traditional early Mediterranean cultivar, and in new clones (‘C3’, ‘C4’, ‘TP1’ and Etrusco) from “in vitro” micropropagation.
Compared to the conventional method, removal of the apex and epigeal part of the plant, increased the number of “ovoli” per plant by 240% (‘Violet de Provence’) and 314 % (clone ‘C3’) and allowed the production of “ovoli” (from 2.8 to 4.7 per plant) in the other clones which do not develop any “ovoli”. The removal of the epigeal part also influenced some “ovoli” characteristics (weight, length and width).

IV International Congress on Artichoke

N. Morello, G. Santoiemma, A. Ierna, G. Mauromicale

multiplication procedure, conventional method, genotype, ´ovoli´ characteristics, economic analysis

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2005.681.32