Evaluation of black chokeberry, Aronia melanocarpa, germplasm for production of natural food colourants

摘要

A project was recently initiated to promote the black chokeberry as a commercial crop for the production of natural food colourants. Chokeberry varieties available in Sweden are marketed for ornamental use, whereas pigment quality is of prime importance for food colourants. Thus, new improved varieties are needed to enable successful commercial cultivation. Phenotypic variation among different sources of plant material was investigated to provide a starting point for a chokeberry breeding programme. Seedlings derived from material cultivated in Russia for juice and wine production appear to form a close-knit group together with accessions obtained from botanical gardens. In contrast, accessions of black chokeberry from native stands in North America were quite distinct from each other as well as from the Russian material.