Globe artichoke, widespread in the Mediterranean area, is traditionally grown for its immature inflorescences (heads). In the last years, alternative uses of the crop related to biomass for energy, seeds for oil and roots for inulin have been considered. In the present work, the potential of nine Italian spring globe artichoke genotypes to develop biomass for biocompound production has been analyzed for two years. Apart from 47 UPOV descriptors previously applied to characterize agromorphologically the nine genotypes, other specific traits referred to plant vigor (i.e., plant diameter, leaf number, biomass index, plant fresh and dry weight) have been considered to describe the same genotypes also under biomass production profile. After the primary head harvest, biomass (floral stem and leaves) has been collected and biochemically characterized using HPLC analysis. The descriptors used allowed a clear identification of the genotypes analyzed with significant differences among them for many of the morphological and biochemical traits considered. Biomass of globe artichoke genotypes was very high and capable of producing high values of biocompound contents; some genotypes such as 'Ascolano' provided a total phenolic compound yield of interest to pharmaceutical extraction industry. Considering that the genotypes here analyzed have never been selected under the biomass and/or the biochemical profile, the results so far obtained indicate that globe artichoke crop could be successfully used even for this non-food productive purpose.
Biomass and biocompound production for valorizing italian spring globe artichoke genotypes
Crinò, P.;
2013-01-01
Abstract
Globe artichoke, widespread in the Mediterranean area, is traditionally grown for its immature inflorescences (heads). In the last years, alternative uses of the crop related to biomass for energy, seeds for oil and roots for inulin have been considered. In the present work, the potential of nine Italian spring globe artichoke genotypes to develop biomass for biocompound production has been analyzed for two years. Apart from 47 UPOV descriptors previously applied to characterize agromorphologically the nine genotypes, other specific traits referred to plant vigor (i.e., plant diameter, leaf number, biomass index, plant fresh and dry weight) have been considered to describe the same genotypes also under biomass production profile. After the primary head harvest, biomass (floral stem and leaves) has been collected and biochemically characterized using HPLC analysis. The descriptors used allowed a clear identification of the genotypes analyzed with significant differences among them for many of the morphological and biochemical traits considered. Biomass of globe artichoke genotypes was very high and capable of producing high values of biocompound contents; some genotypes such as 'Ascolano' provided a total phenolic compound yield of interest to pharmaceutical extraction industry. Considering that the genotypes here analyzed have never been selected under the biomass and/or the biochemical profile, the results so far obtained indicate that globe artichoke crop could be successfully used even for this non-food productive purpose.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
