Status of medicinal and aromatic plants in - Inia

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WORKING GROUP ON MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC PLANTS: FIRST MEETING
Current status of the collection of aromatic, culinary and medicinal plants in
the Czech Gene Bank in Olomouc
Karel Dušek
Research Institute of Crop Production (RICP), Vegetable Gene Bank Olomouc, Czech Republic
The genetic resources of aromatic, culinary and medicinal plants are maintained in the Gene
Bank in Olomouc, which is now part of the Czech national genebank for agricultural crops.
Since 1994 it has been, from an organization point of view, affiliated to the Research Institute
of Crop Production (RICP) in Prague-Ruzyne. The bases of the germplasm collections were
constituted at the Research Institute of Vegetables Growing and Breeding (RIVGB) in
Olomouc, which was established in 1951 and ceased operating in 1994. The station in
Olomouc now maintains genetic resources of all vegetable species usually grown in Central
Europe (genera Allium, Beta, Brassica, Capsicum, Cucumis, Cucurbita, Daucus, Lactuca,
Lycopersicon, etc.), and a wide range of aromatic, culinary and medicinal plants. Within the
ECP/GR, the Gene Bank in Olomouc is responsible for holding the international field
genebank for vegetatively propagated long-day Allium species.
Collecting and growing medicinal and culinary plants have a long tradition in the Czech
Republic. These activities were supported by intensive breeding based on selection from rich
collections of genetic resources. In spite of a relatively limited growing area (the biggest
production areas are, with the exception of mountains, in Moravia, along the river Elbe,
around the towns of Litoměřice, Teplice, Pardubice and Hradec Králové, and in South
Bohemia), the importance of medicinal and culinary plants is based on their specific quality.
The collection of aromatic, culinary and medicinal plants
This collection consists of 973 accessions representing 78 species, including 286 accessions
that are vegetatively propagated and 687 propagated from seed. The species composition of
this collection is shown in Table 1. New accessions are obtained from botanical gardens,
private seed companies, research institutes and international and local collecting missions.
Table 1. Species composition of the aromatic, culinary and medicinal plants collection in Olomouc
Species
No. of accessions
Carum L. 277
Origanum L. 67
Ocimum L. 44
Satureja L. 42
Lavandula L. 41
Plantago L. 41
Salvia L. 37
Mentha L. 35
Calendula L. 34
Anethum L. 24
Althaea L. 22
Foeniculum vulgare Miller 19
Leonurus L. 19
Hyssopus L. 16
Thymus L. 14
Malva L. 13
Melissa L. 12
Ruta L. 12
Achillea L. 11
Hypericum L. 11
Verbascum L. 11
Other species (Agrimonia L., Anchusa L., Anthemis L., Valeriana L.,Verbena L.) 171
Total 973