Evaluation of Sicilian landraces of broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica Plenck) for quality traits

Brassica oleracea L. var. italica Plenck is one of the most popular vegetables which belong to the Brassicaceae family. It is getting attention as an important source of bioactive compounds such as glucosinolates, and many other phytochemicals. In the frame of the H2020 BRESOV project, we evaluated six landraces as such as (Broccolo nero, Settembrino, Ramoso calabrese, Smuzzatura, Sparaceddu, Cavolo riccio di Messina) and two commercial varieties F1 hybrids (Marathon and Naxos). The plantlets were transplanted in Mojo-Alcantara (Sicilia) in November 2020 (2 plant m-2) to monitor their phenological stage, biometric, sensorial, and biochemical traits of the produce. The inflorescence was characterized through bio-morphometric parameters: diameters, grain, color, soluble solidis, and the sensorial analysis by panel test were performed by freeze-dried samples (glucosinolates -GLSs- amount). The sensory profiles (UNI 10957) of samples were defined by ten trained judges using nine sensory attributes and the sensory data for each attribute were analyzed by one-way ANOVA. The results showed significant differences among genotypes, for plant habitus sprouting/branching and for different flowering times. The most performing genotype in terms of inflorescence weight was the commercial hybrid F1 Naxos (415.6 g), followed by Marathon F1 (112.7 g). The Sicilian landraces Broccolo nero and Sparaceddu showed lower curd diameter (35.6 mm and21.5 mm, respectively) than commercial F1 hybrids Marathon and Naxos (84.3 mm and 151.3 mm, respectively). Concerning soluble solid content, it was high in Sparaceddu (8,53°), Naxos F1 (8,30°), and Broccolo nero (8,14°), while it was low in Marathon F1 (6,12°). The Anova results of the sensory data showed significant differences (p<=0.05) for the attributes color intensity and overall. For the Sicilian landraces, the accession Sparaceddu was observed the highest value of total GLSs present (20.21 ?mol-1 d.w.) and its profile was very articulated in comparison to the hybrid F1 Naxos.