La micropropagazione di specie orticole: stato attuale e prospettive

Although in the world the commercial micropropagation of vegetables concerns various species (i.e., artichoke, asparagus, potato, garlic), the italian production is presently limited to the only artichoke. However, today micropropagation is also regarded as an important tool for the propagation of selected shoot culture lines, the recovery of pathogen-free material, the slow growth storage and the cryopreservation of valuable germplasm. A programme of recovery, selection, characterization, propagation and conservation of ancient germplasm of the Veneto region has been in progress for many years at the Veneto Agricoltura regional Agency. In this context, the Micropropagation Laboratory of the Horticultural Regional Centre “Po di Tramontana” di Rosolina, Italy, is developing procedures for the micropropagation, the in vitro termotherapy and shoot tip culture, the conservation at 4°C in darkness and the cryopreservation by both vitrification and dropletfreezing methods of selected lines and ancient germplasm of chicory, garlic and artichoke. The in vitro recovery of pathogen-free lines, in particular, is a key factor for obtaining plantlents responding to qualitative and phytosanitary standards, in the frame of the EU.