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• Adaptation of temperate climate horticultural plants in tropical and subtropical developing countries II. General characteristics, Hungarian experiences and possibilities

  5-11.

  M. G. Fári

  J. Nyéki

  Views:

  400

  The cooperation of Hungarian professionals with Chinese, Thai, South-Korean, Taiwanese and Brazilian colleagues should deserve much more attention than actually done. We refer to the transfer and adaptation of production technologies as well as biotechnological developments in vegetables, fruits, ornamentals and medicinal plants from the Temperate Zone to the tropical and subtropical regions. According to our information Hungarian colleagues involved in extension work are highly esteemed on the same level as Japanese, Chilean, Italian and French colleagues. We could state that immigration of investors, local enterpreneurs as well as those coming from expansive regions of Europe, North America and oversses, representaives of supermakets keeps to be accelerated by the increasing confidence triggered also by the successful management of profitable plantations, vineyards and fruits initiated first about 15 years ago.

  For Hungary, the presence and achievements of Hungarian horticultural expertise in tropical and subtropical zones yielded unequivocal advantages. Therefore, the next actual step of development would mean the organisation of a network of the "Units of Horticultural Mission" in the tropic and subtropic countries. We are convinced that those Units will stimulate the traffic of technologies as centers of transfer within and between the regions and contribute to the increasing influence of professionals on the production and trade of horticultural commodities. The introduction and testing of new varieties of vegetables, fruits, medicinal plants (as well as ornamentals), the development of the growing technologies, adaptation and acclimation of Temperate Zone germ plasm representing the general trends of advanced production will be the most important tasks of the Mission with a sufficient oversight upon the whole world. It is taken as a fact that Hungarian horticulture and breeding is competitive on the world market. We are ready to contribute to the development of horticulture on a worldwide scale. The Hungarian R & D will be attentive in the future to manage the accumulated capacities by information and mediating needs and offers to the volonteers of the profession. The reality of the above propositions are amply proved by successes of the Agroinvest Co and of other professionals registered in abroad.

  To keep on the top of the world list of the profession we have to follow up the international trends by our permanent presence on the most important centers of administration and production of the world in order to hold on the hot line of the Hungarian administration competent in financing the R & D activities. We need specialists which are open minded, speak languages, familiar with the tricks of informatics, economics and politics, competent in deals, able to make decisions, etc. The education and training should be strenghtened to he conform with those trends. That proposal involves also the need to follow up the activities of the transnational companies, the regular, active participation on international conferences, the permanent attention paid to electronic informations available in the worldwide networks as well as the printed periodicals of horticulture. It is also related to the attraction of investors to the developments aimed within the country as well as abroad. At last but not at least we have to keep in mind that the work performed abroad by the Hungarian professional is a kind of "para-diplomatic mission" which cannot be substituted by any other, sometimes very expensive activity charged on the officia erliplomatic missions. The benefit of it is, however, valid to the whole country because false stereotypes developed during the last 50 years cannot be abolished otherwise.

• Strategy of the sour cherry verticum in the Northern Great Plain Region Hungary (Analytic study)

  7-31.

  J. Nyéki

  M. Soltész

  L. Popovics

  T. Szabó

  S. Thurzó

  I. J. Holb

  M. G. Fári

  Zs. Veres

  G. Harsányi

  Z. Szabó

  Views:

  216

  Sour cherry growing and consumption grows dynamically around the world. The present volume of 1 million tons will incerase within 10 years with 20-30, or even with 50%. In the world wide sour cherry production, Europe is a decisive factor, i.e. 2/3 of the volume is grown there. Prominent capacities are concentrated in East-Central Europe, mainly Poland, Germany and Hungary. In the future, new concurrent exporters are expected on the European market as Turkey, Iran, Serbia-Montenegro. Hungarian sour cherry production has rich traditions, so the growing techniques and the assortment of sour cherry varieties make Hungary a „Great Power" on this field. Fresh fruit and products developed from sour cherry represent values distinguished as „Hungaricum" on the markets. Sour cherry growing and the path of its products are one of the „pulling branches" of Hungarian fruit growing. Sour cherry occupies 15% of area for fruit growing and 40% within the stone fruits. Sour cherry was grown widely in Hungary, it was grown everywhere as for utilizing waste areas. This is the main reason that yields are low as a mean of 15 000 ha and the volume is low (50-60 000 tons) only. To that poor figure the heavy infections of Monilia contributed substantially in the last couple of years. The two most valid arguments of using the present varieties as the best solution are 1) the cross bred new varieties, and 2) the selections of local, traditional varieties, which substituted the earlier dominant 'Pándy meggy' variety, which had a good quality but yielded poorly. Sour cherry growing of Hungary shifted from the dry regions of the country toward the cooler and more humid regions, where the weather excesses secure a less risky production. The most decisive region is the Norther Great Plain Region comprising Szabolcs­Szatmar-Bereg county, where more than the half of the Hungarian sour cherry volume is produced, and which is bound to increase its production in the future. The majority of sour cherry produced in Hungary is processed, moreover, an important fraction of the exported fresh fruit is also used by the industry. The main importer of Hungarian sour cherry is Germany. The industry manufactures mainly canned products, a smaller fraction will be processed to other products. The expected volumes of sour cherry grown in Hungary in the next 5 and 10-year-period was estimated from data based on the ratio of young plantations, predicted consequences of the global climatic changes, phytosanitary aspects, furthermore, on the development of the technological level. In the region, the volume grown within 5 years, 40 000 t/year will increase within 10 years to 55 000 t/y. The processing in Hungary is not sufficiently differenciated, which is attributed partly to the characters of the varieties, partly to the weaknesses of the processing industry. One of the reasons is the suitability of varieties mainly for canning products. Processed sour cherry products could not be sold at the same price levels achieved by concurrent sour cherry growing countries. The vertical structure of the path of products of sour cherry disposes of adequate processing capacity being ready to be developed or there is sufficient intention of making investments for the purpose of manufacturing special sour cherry products. Significant tasks of development are actual in the field of the ecological and biological conditions of production. Volume and yield security as well as the maturity time and diversification of processing possibilities are the main endeavours in widening the assortment of varieties to be grown in the near future. The main objective in growing techniques is the modernization of phytotechnical procedures, and new solutions of methods of mechanical harvesting and related technical innovations are necessary in the sour cherry verticum. A key question is the effectiveness of phytosanitary procedures with special reference to the Monilia fungus and to the cherry fruit fly as the most important pest. There are two points of break through in the Hungarian sour cherry verticum. On the one hand, meeting the increasing demands in fuits for fresh consumption, on the other hand, the diversification of processed sour cherry products and their introduction to the markets. Both are aiming to increase the competitiveness of the Hungarian sour cherry. For that purpose, outstanding varieties and excellent as well as internationally recognised fruit qualities are ready to be utilized. The most susceptible problems of the Hungarian sour cherry verticum are associated with marketing, alliance of the grower-and processor organisations and their co-operation because no overall integration within the sour cherry verticum has been established yet. Most urgent necessity as well as possibility of changes are felt in the Northern Great Plain Region.

• Comparative evaluation of chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.) populations from different origin

  91-95.

  B. Gosztola

  E. Németh

  S. Sárosi

  K. Szabó

  A. Kozák

  Views:

  355

  In our research project under cultivation we examined 4 cultivars ('Soroksári 40', 'Lutea , 'Goral', 'Bona') and 28 wild populations of chamomile assuring all of them the same environmental conditions. Plant height, flower-diameter, essential-oil content, and the main terpenoid and flavonoid composition were analysed. The aim of our study was to establish the genetic background of breeding a new cultivar as well as encircle those natural habitats that give chamomile drug with the best quality.

  In the case of plant height populations from the Great Hungarian Plain were lower than plants from Transdanubia and the control cultivars. Between the wild and the standard individuals we found significant differences with relevance to the flower-diameter. With regard to the essential oil content the populations were very heterogeneous even those, which came from the same habitat. Populations form Transdanubia and Nagyiván reached the essential oil level of the cultivars (0.721-0.931 gi100g), and 75% of the examined plants exceeded the minimum requirement of the PhHg VIII.

  According to the essential oil composition our previous statement was confirmed that in the populations of Transdanubia and Northern part of Danube—Tisza Mid Region the main component is bisabolol-oxide A (30-41.2%), while plants native to the territory cast of the river Tisza are mainly characterised by a-bisabolol (32.3-48.4). In some samples the ratio of bisabolol-oxide B was more than 10%. The chamazulene content was higher in the cultivars selected to this component (above 20%), than in the wild populations (varied between 1.22 and 17.2%). Populations originated from the central part of Hortobágy region had extremely high apigenin content (10-13 mg/g), but in the case of chlorogenic acid, hyperoside and quercitrin we did not find any differences affected by the origin.

• Flowering performance of some Modern Rose Varieties in Hungary

  69-75.

  G. Boronkay

  E. Jámbor-Benczúr

  Views:

  132

  A variety trial has been accomplished to study the flowering performance of some modern roses. Blooming time and blooming intensity were studied in Hungarian and Western European varieties. 120 Floribundas, polyanthas and climbings were observed. Our work shows that valuable Hungarian varieties can be found in all the three studied classes. The best Hungarian climbing roses at blooming intensity were `Futótűz', `Rozalia', ‘Sarolt and 'Szent Erzsébet emléke'; best floribundas were ‘Báthory István emléke', 'Munkács', 'Szent Margit emléke; and the best Hungarian polyanthas were `Csinszka', `Domokos PáI Péter emléke'. Some really good flowering Western-European rose varieties have also been found, the best ones were 'Clg. Gertrude Westphal' climbing, 'La Sevillana' floribunda and 'Beauty of New South Wells', 'Happy' polyanthus. 'La Sevillana' and 'Picasso' were in strong bloom for the longest time.

  In Hungary, the floribunda and polyantha classes had good flowering intensity to the almost the same extent, floribundas had stronger, and polyanthas had longer flowering waves, but the ever-blooming ability of the climbing roses was moderate in the dry midsummer.

• Effects of silicon in plants with particular reference to horticultural crops - Review article

  95-105.

  O. Bat-Erdene

  A. Szegő

  M. Gyöngyik

  I. Mirmazloum

  I. Papp

  Views:

  296

  Silicon (Si) has long been considered as non-essential element for plant’s growth and production. Numerous efforts are being made for the discovery of its beneficial effects with large scale studies laying foundation for new findings and hypotheses. Therefore, Si has been suggested to be a quasi-essential element due to its positive effects against biotic and abiotic stresses alike. Though Si is the second most abundant element in the soil profile, its availability to plants is limited to the form of monosilicic acid only. Besides, plants’ ability to take-up Si and use it in their physiological processes also depends on the available transporters associated with it. Thus, the present review covers uptake and transport of silicon in plants as well as Si mediated physiological processes, including mechanisms underlying induced tolerance against biotic and abiotic stresses with a particular emphasis on horticultural species.

• Fire blight (Erwinia amylovora) susceptibility of old Hungarian apple cultivars

  35-38.

  M. Tóth

  K. Honty

  M. Hevesi

  Views:

  141

  The aim of the Hungarian apple breeding program started in the Department of Fruit Science was to find resistant apple cultivars against major diseases (scab, powdery mildew, fire blight). The outbreak of fire blight (Erwinia amylovora) in 1996 motivated us to search new resistant sources principally from old traditional apple cultivars. First of all, cultivars have been gathered since 1997 from Carpathia (Visk) and evaluated between 2001 and 2003. In this recent study evaluation of resistance of old Hungarian genotypes to fire blight collected from the English National Fruit Collection (Brogdale, Faversham) is presented.

  13 old Hungarian apple cultivars in 2002, and 38 genotypes in 2005 have been evaluated. We used `Idared' and 'Jonathan M41' as susceptible controls and 'Liberty' and 'Remo' as resistant ones. Shoots of two-year-old potted plants were inoculated with a mixture of virulent E. amylovora isolates (Ea2, Ea60, Ea67) at a concentration of 5 x 10⁸ cells/ml. Resistance of apple cultivars was evaluated weekly, four times after inoculation by disease severity of symptoms. Numbers of bacterial colonies in 1 cm length shoot were determined in the fourth week after infection.

  8 cultivars in 2002 and 9 cultivars in 2005 displayed notable resistance to fire blight based on one-year data. Based on the coincident data of both years, out of the cultivars collected also from Carpathia ‘Pónyik', and `Sikulai' were found to be resistant and gene sources additional old Hungarian valuable apple genotypes could be selected: `Szabadkai szercsika' and `Tordai piros !davit'. The cultivar `Szemes alma' originated from Visk has proved to be recurrently resistant.

  The number of bacterial cells in shoots of the investigated cultivars correlated with the severity of symptoms. With this method, which was introduced by us earlier, we can screen cultivars displaying weak visible symptoms, which cannot be proposed as a source of resistance because of their latent infection.

• Colour stability of the flowers in some modern rose varieties in Hungary

  61-66.

  G. Boronkay

  E. Jámbor-Benczúr

  Á. Máthé

  Views:

  149

  A variety trial has been carried out to study the colour changing — colour stability of the flowers of some modern roses, especially of Hungarian varieties. 100 floribundas and polyanthas were observed. Colours of the petal surface were examined at three fenological stages of the flowers: at the bud, at the young open flowers and at the aged open flower stages. The colour difference was described in HLS standard. Our work shows that valuable Hungarian varieties can be found in both studied classes, but more floribundas bred in Hungary had good colour stability than polyanthas. The best Hungarian floribundas were 'Pest' and 'Remenyik Sándor emléke', although 'Regen', `Szent Lász1ó em­léke' and 'Szabó Dezső emléke' were quite good. The best Western-European floribunda rose was 'Perneille Poulsen'. Their colour stability was reliable in different situations. Colour changing of the two best varieties was almost unperceivable from the bud to the young petals and from the young to the aged petals. In the polyantha class there was only one perfect variety: the Czech `Cs1 Cerveny Kriz'. The 'Fairy Damsel' was almost excellent as well. The best Hungarian polyanthas were `Domokos Pál Péter emléke' and 'Savaria'.

• Production and marketing of medicinal and aromatic plants

  63-75.

  J. Bernáth

  Views:

  144

  The utilisation of medicinal and aromatic plants is growing continuously, which is motivated by both psychological and rational factors. Species belonging to this special group of plants were produced in the territory of Hungary many centuries back. However, the intensification of the production started in the first years of 20 th century, only, and in spite of many political and economical contradictions the medicinal and aromatic plant sector became a successful part of Hungarian Agriculture. Some of the national products had been accepted as a special Hungarian product ("Hungaricum") evaluated as most respectful in the world market. To stabilise, even to develop the production of medicinal and aromatic plants in Hungary the understanding of the actual world situation, especially the forthcoming EU conditions, became essential. Based on the analysis of the situation market and economy of medicinal plant production, a new strategy had to be developed. The medicinal and aromatic plant sector requires a special development program, which should be supported by Hungarian authorities, focusing on the subjects, which are as follows:

  • development of "quasi" EU compatible Hungarian regions specialised for medicinal plant production,
  • development of biological background, technology as well as the quality assurance system of the production,
  • EU compatible regulation and subvention system of the sector, including processing, production and marketing of raw and phytomed ici nes,
  • development of new marketing strategy in both national and international relations.

   

• Ecological diversity of Hungarian medicinal and aromatic plant flora and its regional consequences

  10-19.

  J. Bernáth

  É. Németh

  Views:

  161

  During the last century the medicinal and aromatic plant sector has became a successful part of the Hungarian Agriculture. Some of the national products have been accepted as a special Hungarian ones ("Hungaricum"), evaluated on the world market, respectfully. By the estimates the cultivation area of medicinal and aromatic plants increased up to 37,000-42,000 hectares and considerable amount — about 10, 000-15, 000 tonnes of dry biomass — are produced by utilisation of Hungarian indigenous flora, year by year.

  In the present work ecological requirements of 97 collected and 55 cultivated medicinal and aromatic plants are characterised. Based on the analysis of ^-Ts (temperature regime values) about 63 per cent of cultivated species came from Submediterranean and Mediterranean type of habitat, originally, while the majority of collected plants (61.8 per cent of them) prefer the deciduous forest conditions. The differences between collected and cultivated species are appreciable too, if the distributions of their characteristic water regime ('W' values) are compared. The majority of cultivated species require dry (moderate dry) and fresh (moderate fresh) habitats, while the amplitude of water requirement of collected species is much more wide-ranging.

  The regional specialisation of Hungary according to production of medicinal and aromatic plants is known from the beginnings of the 20th century. As a result of spontaneous process seven well-defined production areas were developed. The relationship between regions, their climatic conditions and spectrum of species produced there are analysed.

   

• Studies on the essential oil of different fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) populations during onthogeny

  27-30.

  H. G. Chung

  É. Németh

  É. Héthelyi

  Views:

  185

  In the recent studies two Foeniculum vulgare Mill. populations (Hungarian and Korean) had been studied in open field trials in 1997-98 in Budapest for the identification of their essential oil characteristics. The essential oil accumulation level as well as the composition of the oil were studied during ontogenesis and at 6 phases of the umbel development from budding to overripening.

  In the vegetative phases, the accumulation level of the essential oil was higher in the Hungarian genotype. In the leaf rosette stage, anethole is the main compound in both genotypes (40-96%), except the root of the Korean populations which contains 54% dillapiol. The accumulation level of anethole is slightly decreasing, while dillapiol is slightly increasing during the ontogeny. a- and [3-pinenes are characteristic compounds of the leaves, especially in the Korean genotype (10-11%). Before seed setting, fenchone was present in a considerable amount (7.5%) only in the umbels of the Hungarian genotype.

  During the generative development, the maximum values of essential oil content are reached at the milky fruit stage (10,11%) in the Hungarian. and at the green fruit stage (7.1% ) in the Korean type, while the composition of the essential oil changed only slightly. The ratio of fenchone is increasing after flowering and being stable during ripening. Anethole varies to a smaller extent in the umbels, only.

  We proved, that the dinamics of essential oil accumulation and the oil composition may vary according to genotype. Based on our results, the Korean population is characterized in the system of Bernáth et al. (2) as a high anethol-low methyl chavicol chemoform of the anethol chemovariety (fenchone<15%; anethole>68%; methyl chavicol< 3,2%).

   

• Hungarian fruits and vegetables of high anti-oxidant activity as functional foods (Review article)

  13-21.

  Zs. Veres

  É. Domokos-Szabolcsy

  J. Koroknai

  L. Dudás

  I. J. Holb

  J. Nyéki

  M. G. Fári

  Views:

  261

  Recently, projects aiming to enhance the consumption of fruits and vegetables are intensified. Experts agree in the principle of fresh vegetable foods being a valid panacea in averting risks of ailments as well as curing immune-insufficiency, inflammations, moreover, certain cancerous processes. It is generally accepted that among substances of biological activity the anti-oxidant compounds such as vitamins C, E and carotenoids, etc. have the major role in this process. Hungarian agriculture has outstanding chances in utilising its natural as well as cultivated plant resources and favourable climatic conditions. It would be, however, necessary to build up a databank of anti­oxidant substances found in fruits and vegetables and including the modifying effects of technology, growing site, variety, etc. The concept of promoting the trade of Hungarian food-specialities as "Hungaricum" needs, urgently, the aid of a databank of that kind. Some of those excellent products are for instance the sour cherry, pepper and onion. They enjoy high priority as "Hungaricum" in the EU and it should be enhanced by intense and consequent research work, which may prove their role as functional foods. The USA is the leading country in research on the anti-oxidant substances of sour cherries, and up to now more than 17 compounds have been found in Hungarian varieties among others. In pepper fruits used as vegetable and source of vitamin C, the analyses are still lacking because research of the past concentrated on the products of milled spice pepper. Onion and garlic are entirely unexplored in this respect. It should be noted that availability of these fresh products in the moderate climate is restricted to a relatively short season. For that reason, some processing and preservation methods are needed in order to use those fruits and vegetables as functional foods all around the year. The scientifically founded endeavour as a solution of the questions mentioned is stimulated by vigorous commercial interests as well as by the urgent needs of the consumers to improve their health.

• The future of the Hungarian sour cherry growing branch

  99-104.

  F. ApátiF.

  I. Gonda

  Views:

  193

  The present study deals with the actual situation of the Hungarian sour cherry production in order to outline the chances of the future and the trends of the development anticipated. The general conclusion accepted that on the long run Hungarian sour cherry production ought to be reorganised. The conditions of keeping the position on the international market are outlined: integration of small farms into large plantations (several times 10 hectares), introduction of mechanical harvest and high (15–20 t/ha) yields. For all that, adequate expertise should be developed on the cooperative farms, where the up to date technology could be applied with innovative initiatives. Small farms (up to 1–2 hectares) and home gardens have no chances to stay on the competitive market. The actual volume of sour cherry of 40–70 thousand tons per year cannot be increased in the future. The sour cherry area was 16 000 ha in 2001, the actual is around 12–13 thousand, and will decline during the following 5 years to less than 10 thousand hectares.

• The effect of the limitation of insect pollination period on the fruit set and yield of temperate-zone fruit tree species

  90-95.

  P. Benedek

  J. Nyéki

  M. Soltész

  Z. Erdős

  I. Skola

  T. Szabó

  I. Amtmann

  F. Bakcsa

  G. Kocsisné Molnár

  Z. Vadas

  Z. Szabó

  Views:

  141

  The duration of effective bee pollination period was limited by caging flowering branches for shorter or longer time in blooming fruit trees in a number of experiments during the past decades. In the case of self-sterile fruit species and cultivars (apples, pears, quinces, some plums, some sour cherries) even partial limitation of the effective duration of bee pollination period significantly reduced the fruit set and the yield. In the case of self-fertile apricots the effect of the total and also the influence of partial limitation of bee pollination period was the same as in the case of the mentioned self-sterile fruits. On the other hand, in the case of another self-fertile fruits (some plums, some sour cherries), the effect of partial limitation of bee pollination period was usually small, but complete (or incomplete but strong) limitation of be pollination usually resulted in a strong reduction of yield. This means that not only self-sterile but also self-fertile fruits clearly depend on insect (bee) pollination. This is because pollen dehiscence of anthers and the receptive period of stigmas do not overlap in time within the individual flowers. Stigmas in self-fertile trees, therefore, need pollen carried by bees from another flowers of the same tree (or compatible pollen from another trees). Accordingly, additional bee pollination (moving bee colonies to the orchards in flower) is needed to all kinds of temperate-zone fruit tree species when bee visitation of plantations is not abundant enough for some reasons.

• Genotyping Hungarian apricot cultivars for self-(in)compatibility by isoelectric focusing and PCR analysis

  69-72.

  A. Pedryc

  J. Halász

  R. Hermán

  A. Hegedűs

  Views:

  146

  Self-incompatibility (SI) in flowering plants is a widespread genetic system that promotes out-crossing. In Prunus species the SI is a gametophytic trait, which is controlled by a single multiallelic locus, termed S-locus. S-alleles codify stylar glycoproteins with ribonuclease activity (S-RNases). Our objective was to assess the S-genotype of some Hungarian apricot varieties by isoelectric focusing of stylar RNases as well as by PCR analysis using cherry consensus primers. Consensus primers amplified one or two bands of various sizes. Primers amplifying the 1st intron gained fragments the size of which ranged from 250 to 500 bp; while those amplifying the 2nd intron resulted in fragments of 800-2000 by length. Our data demonstrated that the first intron of the apricot S-RNase gene is shorter than the second one, which coincides with the structure of cherry S-RNase alleles. `Hargrand' (S<sub>1</sub>S<sub>2</sub>) and `Harcoe (S₁S₄) possessed one common S-RNase isoenzyme. Hungarian 'Orias' apricot cultivars showed different bands compared to the previous cultivars, but they shared completely identical patterns confirming that they possess the same S-genotype. 'Bergeron', `Harmat' and 'Korai zamatos' are characterised by an evidently distinct S-RNase pattern. The self-compatible cultivar (`Bergeron') had one allele, which suggests its correspondence to the Sc. Primers for the 2nd intron was unsuccessful in gaining fragments, which indicates that the 2nd intron in the Sc allele is too long to get any amplification. On the basis of our data, identities and differences were revealed in the S-allele constitution of some economically important Hungarian apricot cultivars at protein and DNA levels.

• First selections of the Hungarian apple breeding program for multiple resistance

  9-13.

  M. G. Tóth

  Szabó Kovács

  K. Kása

  Zs. Rozsnyay

  M. Hevesi

  Views:

  138

  The aim of the first Hungarian apple breeding program for multiple resistance started in the beginning of the nineties is to widen Hungarian apple assortment by good quality, resistant apple cultivars with excellent productivity and ecological capability to the most important fruit growing areas in Hungary. In the first years of seedling production we made early selection for susceptibility to apple scab in greenhouse. Alter this, field observation of susceptibility to powdery mildew, scab and canker and a yearly negative selection was carried on. From 1997, fruit quality was evaluated as well, and from 2001 the resistance of shoots to Erwinia ainylovora (Burrill/Winslow et al.) was examined using inoculations in greenhouse conditions. From the progenies of crosses in 1992 and 1993, six candidates were announced to national recognition out of hybrids examined for more than a decade. Descriptions of these selections from 'Prima' progenies and the most important data of their resistance, growing habit, morphological characteristics and fruit quality are shown in this article.

• Hungaricum as a quality of fruits and fruit products

  71-81.

  M. Soltész

  J. Nyéki

  Z. Szabó

  J. Papp

  Views:

  182

  The territory of the Hungarian state is largely suitable for the purpose of growing fruits of the temperate zone species. During the next decennia, the annual volume of Hungarian fruit production is expected to be around 1.1-1.3 million tons, from which some 15% is considered to be a produce of Hungary or "Hungaricum" (90 thousand tons of sour cherry, 50 thousand tons of apricot, 20 thousand tons of raspberry, 10 thousand tons of walnut). These fruits symbolise the country's special quality, which are worth to catch the interest the foreign consumers.

  The category of Hungaricum involves almost exclusively varieties of Hungarian origin as sour cherries, apricots, raspberries and walnuts, and they are representing outstanding qualities on the international markets.

  As for the fruit products the fruit brandies are eligible to be "Hungaricum" and are called exclusively "Pálinka". The Pálinka, provided to be distinguished with a geographic mark and will be competitive on the world market. Smaller quantities, though significant produce is represented by the deep frozen raspberry.

• The effect of spring frosts on the nectar production and the bee visitation of fruit trees

  86-89.

  P. Benedek

  J. Nyéki

  I. Amtmann

  F. Bakcsa

  J. Iváncsics

  Z. Erdős

  I. Skola

  Views:

  150

  Fruit tree species suffered very strong spring frosts in 1997 in Hungary. This caused partial or total damages at buds and flowers depending on site and time of blooming. It was demonstrated at a number of experiments that frost and cold weather also strongly affected the nectar production of surviving flowers. No or very little amount of nectar was measured in flowers first of all of early blooming fruit tree species (apricot) but also of pear and apple in some places. In spite of this fact intensive honeybee visitation was detected in the flowers of fruit trees that suffered partial frost damage only at those sites where honeybee colonies were placed in or at the experimental plantations and the lack of sufficient amount of nectar did not affected bee behaviour seriously on fruit flowers. This means that bad nectar production failed to affect bee visitation of fruit trees definitely. The reason for this was the fact that not only fruit trees but another early bee plants (wild plants, too) suffered frost damage. Accordingly, in lack of forage bees intensively searched for food at blooming fruit trees with some living flowers. Consequently, there was an acceptable yield at those plantations where bud and flower damage was not complete. Accordingly, intensive bee visitation (that is moving additional bee colonies to overpopulate fruit orchards with honeybees) can be an effective tool to decrease or eliminate the detrimental effect of spring frost on the yield of fruit trees where bud or fruit damage is not too high.

   

• Hungarian apple growing and marketing on the doorstep of the European Union

  15-18.

  E. Kállay

  T. Kállay

  Views:

  109

  The scope of apple growing and marketing has been determined by the economic and political systems in the recent decades. One may follow the booms and collapses in the Hungarian apple industry. Re-establishment of the market economy gives new chances for recovery in the fruit section as well.

  Reconstruction of the apple industry has started with private ownership of lands. In the present work we characterise the still existing apple farms inherited from the previous system, present the newly established orchards in detail, deal with the present state of apple commerce and finally, we try to predict the near future of Hungarian apple industry.

• Comparative investigations on protoplast culture of some Brazilian and Hungarian sweet pepper cultivars and hybrids

  39-45.

  A. M. Fontes

  C. W. Otoni

  S. V. Maia

  H. S. Brommonschenkel

  M. Fári

  Views:

  177

  Cotyledon protoplasts were isolated from 16-18-day-old in vitro grown seedlings of 9 Brazilian and 3 Hungarian pepper varieties and hybrids. Large numbers (average 9.59 X 106 protoplasts g 1⁴ fresh weight) of highly viable (average 87.0%) protoplasts were released using a pectocellulolytic enzyme mixture. Protoplasts were cultured in K8p mediuni using an alginate disc embedding method. The osmotic pressure of the medium surrounding the alginate-embedded protoplasts was reduced by replenishing the liquid medium at K8p:K8 ratios of 1:0. 2:1, 1:1 in the first. second, and third week, respectively. Initial plating efficiency (IPE) average was 38.5% and after 21 days protoplasts reached microcolonies (15-20 cells) stages. Microcolonies were transferred after 3-4 weeks to a MS-based medium supplemented with 1.0 mg I^-1 zeatin, 3.0% (w/v) sucrose, 0.24% (w/v) phytagel and pH 5.8, whereupon they formed callus. Final plating efficiency (FPE) average was 0.29% at a plating density of 1.0 x 105 protoplasts Protoplast-derived calli were cultured on a range of MS-based media supplemented with either BAP, IAA, TDZ; and zeatin. No morphogenic response was observed in any genotype investigated.

   

• Mutation induction in sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) by fast neutron irradiation

  30-38.

  E. Enkhbileg

  A. Fenyvesi

  B. Bíró

  M. G. Fári

  E. Kurucz

  Views:

  313

  Basil species are highly sensitive to exterior environmental conditions and its consequences lead to great economic and agronomic losses. In this research, a mutation method was optimized out for creating a new variety of Ocimum basilicum L., which could tolerate the extreme/extraordinary climatic circumstances or biotic stresses, such as fungal diseases. Fast neutron irradiation was performed on the Hungarian commercial variety seeds with doses of 5 to 60 Gray and grown into fully developed plants. Numerous phenotypical changes like deformed congestion, leaf mutation, and low growth occurred, especially at higher dosages. Then to confirm whether the plantlets had mutation or not, and to detect the molecular variation and relationship, fingerprinting profiles of the developed mutant regenerants and donor plant have been assessed using ISSR markers. 115 loci were yielded, ranging from 0.2 to 1.5 kb, out of which 110 loci were polymorphic in nature, representing 95.6% polymorphism. The most suitable primer to determine the genetic diversity within the Ocimum species was the UBC-856 with 0.42 PIC and 4.1 MI values.

• Rare macrofungi from Central Börzsöny I. Hungarian occurrence data and habitat preference

  45-52.

  L. Benedek

  F. Pál-Fám

  Views:

  131

  Mycological investigations have been made since 2001 in all characteristic forest types in Central Börzsöny Mts., North Hungary. Among the near 500 macrolungi species documented 8 protected and 32 rare taxa occurred. Present paper concerns 13 of these taxa: 3 critically endangered, 7 endangered and 3 vulnerable in Hungary. Near the summarisation of the European habitat preference a Hungarian habitat characterisation were made for each species based on all Hungarian documented occurrence data. Majority of the species have similar habitat preference in Hungary to the European one, but some exceptions were noted. Boletus pinophilus is a typical species of deciduous forests with acidic soil, not documented from coniferous stands. Pluteo.v umbrosus prefers undisturbed forest stands with high quantity of dead wood in Hungary and did not occur in parks. Trichoma psammopus fructified in lower altitude in deciduous and mixed forest stands (always connected with Larix). Sonic species were rarer in Hungary, than in other European countries, caused by lack of their original habitats: Boletus pinophilus, 11rclJrclloin concrescens, Tremella encephala, Tricholoma aurantium, Iwo species — Boleros torosus anti Amanita lirielopallescens — were touch common in Hungary than in Europe. Two taxa —Amanita vaginata var. alba, Tremella encephala — are new From Hungary.

• Comparative evaluation of different valerian (Valeriana officinalis L.) lines

  63-66.

  Sz. Sárosi

  M. Tulok

  A. Ferenczy

  M. Repcák

  Views:

  159

  Research project to establish a Hungarian valerian cultivar with acceptable production, biological and chemical properties of five promising Valeriana officinalis L. lines were studied. The populations were not homogeneous especially with regard to leaf shape and colour. Line 'IV/1' showed the strongest vigour, was characterised by the highest root-yield (381.79 g/plant), volatile-oil (0.60 m1/100 g) and valtrat content (1.15%). However, the highest valeric-acid content (0.20%) was measured in another line, 'I/5'. According to our results, the above-mentioned lines (1/5', 'IV/1') could be the basic material of breeding work in the future.

• High antioxidant - and anthocyanin contents of sour cherry cultivars may benefit the human health: international and Hungarian achievements on phytochemicals

  45-47.

  Zs. Veres

  I. J. Holb

  I. J. Nyéki

  Z. Szabó

  J. Remenyik

  M. G. Fári

  Views:

  315

  Evidence suggests that a diet with high fruit and vegetable consumption may decrease the risk of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer, and phytochemicals including phenolics, flavonoids and carotenoids from fruits and vegetables may play a key role in reducing chronic disease risk. Recent research has proved that sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) is a valuable natural source of some bioactive compounds important in human health preservation. According to the published data, the most important biological effects of sour cherry are connected — directly or indirectly — to their endogenous antioxidant behaviour as well as to their specific pattern of anthocyanin components. In the present work, we measured the total antioxidant capacity of some Hungarian sour cherry varieties in combination with their anthocyanin-, and vitamin-C content. In 2003, twelve clones were selected and grafted from a local sour cherry population called "Bosnyák" sour cherry grown in small home gardens and farms of the village Csengod (Great-Plain Region, South Hungary). Other Hungarian sour cherry varieties, i.e. cv. Újfehértói fürtos, cv. Érdi bőterrnő, cv. Debreceni bőterrnő, cv. Csengődi and cv. Kántorjánosi served as a control.

• Susceptibility of some traditional pear cultivars of Hungarian and foreign origin to the pathogenic bacterium Erwinia amylovora

  41-45.

  K. Honty

  M. Hevesi

  M. Göndör

  G. Tóth M.

  V. Bács-Várkuti

  A. Ferenczy

  Views:

  138

  Fire blight, a disease caused by the bacterium Erwinia amylovora (Burrill) Winslow et al., has been causing serious damage in Hungarian pear plantations since 1996. A prospective control measure could be the use of resistant cultivars. For that purpose ten pear cultivars have been tested under laboratory and greenhouse conditions for resistance to Erwinia amylovora strains collected in Hungary. Six of these cultivars are Hungarian ones of unknown origin, while four are traditional old varieties. Resistant cultivars should serve as germplasm for future breeding. Inoculations were made with a mixture of different pear isolates of the bacteria collected from various growing regions of Hungary (Ea 21, 23), at a density of 5x10⁸ cells/ml. Susceptibility/resistance has been assessed on the basis of intensity of blight symptoms observed on shoots, flower parts and fruits. Cultivars were assigned to three susceptibility groups (low, moderate and high). Complete resistance was not found among the cultivars tested. The highest level of resistance was found in cultivar 'Kieffer', while the other cultivars displayed either moderate or high susceptibility to infection.

• Mulching in grape plantations

  25-31.

  L. Némethy

  J. Májer

  P. Varga

  Cs. Németh

  L. Fenyvesi

  I. Szabó

  Views:

  140

  In continuous studies regarding the conservation of the advantageous condition of the soil structure, the highland plantations that are surrounded by living waters have major importance where the erosion of the soil, nutrients and chemicals endangers the quality of the water and the living world of the waters. At the same time the extreme weather and dry summers of the past years have made it important to look for soil cultivation solutions and technologies that are capable of decreasing the evaporation of the soil, for enhanced conservation of soil moisture and to improve the soil structure that is required for the growth of healthy roots. In our experiment we have studied soil mulching with organic plant residue, by sods and the effect of the mechanical cultivation on the soil and on the grape through two growing seasons. From the studied treatments, the mulching with organic plant wastage showed the most efficient results from the point of view of the nutrient distribution in the grape and yield. It also had a positive effect on the soil structure and humidity.