Agronomijas v stis - Latvijas Lauksaimniecības universitāte

tālākai pārbaudei, tomēr ir nepieciešams novērot daudz vairāk paraugu, lai atrastu labu šėirni, kurair piemērota vietējiem klimatiskajiem apstākĜiem.Key words: cornel, fruit parameters, flesh ratioIntroductionThe cornel (European cornel, cornelian cherry, Cornus mas L.) is a medium to large deciduousshrub or small tree growing to 5 – 12 m tall. The fruit is an oblong red drupe containing a singleseed. The fruit is edible, it has an acidic flavour which is best described as a mixture of cranberryand sour cherry; it is mainly used for making jam, makes an excellent sauce and also can be eatendried. The cornel is a relatively new species in the circle of the fruit breeders and growers. In thosecountries, where cornel has native populations with high variability and valuable genetic sources,with the mapping and selection of precious specimens, the cultivar breeding has already begun(Priszter, 1990). In the Ukraine, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Austria, France, Germany, Poland and Turkeya systematic collecting, selecting and breeding program has started in the last years (Klimenko,2004). In Bulgaria, Poland, and Romania there are several selected cultivars and in Slovakia evenbreeded cultivars are available as for instance ’Santana’, ’Titus,’ ’Ovidus’, etc... (Pirc, 1992;Porpaczy, 1997; Sipos, 2002; Zeitlhöfer, 2002; Porpáczy, 2004; Klimenko, 2004). In the KievBotanical Garden were bred several cultivars which became popular in the USA named ’Pioneer’,’Elegant’, ’Red-star’ (Zeitlhöfler, 2002). According to Reich’s (2004) study, the cultivars bred bySvetlana Klimenko are very delicious (’Elegant’, ’Pioneer’, ’Red Star’, ’Siretski’, ’Vavilov’). Themain cultivars of the Russian cornel plantations are ’Ispolinskij’, ’Karazogal’, ’Kyrymzy-zogal’,’Gjul-zogal’ and since 1990, two Danish cultivars were introduced ’Macrocarpa’ and ’ Cormas’(Zeitlhöfer, 2002). In Hungary between 1972 and 1981 cornel collecting and processing was on top(Szepesi, 1983), but in the near future, large-scale production is expected with the promotion ofcultivar evaluation and wider cultivation, because cornel grows well in relatively dry soils and iseasy to harvest by shaking (Sipos, 2002). However, cornel can be collected but is also valuable forbio production, because they are not damaged by dangerous pests. 50 years ago, Nyékes (1953)described a Hungarian form of Cornus mas called forma csaszloiensis. It has scarlet red drupes,weight is about 2.7 – 4 g, and the size is about 21 – 27 x 12 – 17 mm. There is only one Hungariancornel cultivar in ornamental use, called ’Autumn Fire’. Its fruits are pear shaped and 4 – 5 g heavy(Priszter, 1990). Priszter (1962) described 11 types of shape and size of the cornel fruits. The mostwell spread types are the forma mas, the f. macrocarpa, and the f. sphaerocarpa. Szepesi (1983)pressed for plantations of wild trees, but because of the modified lifestyle and customs, thecollecting does not ensure enough fruits for industry. Plantations could be established on suchareas, where wood production is not economic. Generally cornel and the other (so-called) forestfruits are pioneer plants. These could be a kind of „fruit bearing forests” near human settlementswith a double interest: 1. providing a concentrated fruit collecting area; and 2. using the soil andenvironment protecting function of the shrubs. Cornel is prolific but teems unevenly. To turnproductive it takes 5 – 6 years, then bears generally (30 kg plant -1 ) 7 – 11 t ha -1 . The fruits can beharvested by hand or shakers for tart cherry. (Porpáczy, 1999; Gilbert and Lorraine, 2003).Propagation is difficult by seeds; they need cold stratification (Priszter, 1990). However, seedlingsare different from mother plants, for the preservation of the attributes of the mother plant it is betterto propagate by suckers, division, cuttings or grafting (Priszter, 1990; Pirc, 1992; Schmidt et al.,1996). Fruit collectors are making from cornel berries delicious palinka (a kind of spirit) and jam.The needs of the processing industry and the market is larger than the collecting can provide,therefore the culturing of new cultivars would be advisable (Makai and Balázs, 2002). Our purposein this study was to show that there are several valuable and variable individuals in the Hungariancornel population, which have outstanding qualities. This might be the first step for furtherexamination and probably the start of the breeding work.Materials and MethodsWe examined the drupes of wild cornel genotypes, collecting samples from the area of ourhometown (the Karsts of Aggtelek and the Bükk-hill southern slopes). In both area the collectingand the use of the fruits in daily cuisine is remarkable. Our study is useful for the evaluation of88