Pietro Fusani

Achillea erba-rotta subsp. moschata (Wulfen) Vacc. (Sin.: A. moschata Wulfen) is a plant belonging to the Asteraceae family and is traditionally used for its medicinal and aromatic properties. Nowadays, it is primarily used as an ingredient of several commercial liqueurs. The essential oil from a representative number of A. erba-rotta subsp. moschata plants collected from the Eastern Italian Alps and cultivated in the same experimental conditions were investigated by GC/FID and GC/MS methods. A great variability among analyzed plant samples was recorded for the essential oil qualitative and quantitative composition. Oxygenated monoterpenes were the main class of detected compounds, of which cis- and trans-thujones (from nil to 85.5% of the total oil), camphor (from 0.2 to 55.6%) and 1,8-cineol (from 0.3 to 19.7%) were the most abundant. Among sesquiterpenes, the group of caryophyllenes, including caryophyllene and its oxygenate derivatives, were quoted from 3.3 to 29.9%, while β-eudesmol comprised from nil to 16.9% of the total oil. Given the known toxicity of thujones for human consumption, the results of this study are of particular importance for selecting plants with lower thujone content in the framework of a possible breeding program.

Achillea erba-rotta subsp. moschata is currently used as an aromatic plant to produce liquors, mainly in the Alpine area. The raw material comes from the harvest in the wild, and no cultivated varieties nor cultivations occur. In the present study, the main agronomic traits and the chemical characterization of seven cultivated accessions of the species are reported. Two accessions resulted in higher yields of dry flowering tops, ranging from 47.5 to 48.6 g·m-2. The main constituents of volatile oil were camphor (22.82%), cis-thujone (17.27%), 1,8-cineole (9.83%), and trans-thujone (7.04%) on average, their amount being variable and differentiating the investigated accessions, one of which revealed the highest content of total thujones. Eighteen phenolic compounds were quantitated, and phenolic acids were the most abundant group, with an average amount of 54.33 mg·g-1, being 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid and 5-caffeoylquinic acid the most abundant. Among flavonoids, which amounted to 19.15 mg·g-1 in total, most abundant were apigenin-7-O-glucoside and syringetin hexoside. By the multivariate analysis, the investigated accessions were grouped into three clusters according to their agronomic and qualitative features, and three of them resulted to have higher yields, lowest thujone content and good phenolic composition, thus being the suitable candidates for a possible domestication process and breeding program.

Plant genetic resources (PGR) serve as the cornerstone for global varietal enhancement and food security. However, these resources face significant threats, including diversity erosion and extinction, are often inadequately conserved, and frequently remain inaccessible for practical use. Traditionally, PGR have been primarily conserved through population seed samples stored ex situ in genebanks. In contrast, complementary in situ techniques – whether involving crop wild relatives in genetic reserves or crop landraces on-farm – have largely remained experimental. The demand from breeders for a broader diversity is driving a more integrated approach that combines ex situ and in situ methods. This paper posits that such an integrated strategy would be mutually advantageous for PGR, biodiversity and farmer-based conservation communities. As a foundation for future PGR science, we propose the three 'Principles of PGR Conservation and Use Congruence' and outline the practical processes involved in in situ and on-farm conservation. We also review the challenges associated with integrating ex situ and in situ conservation, specifically addressing how collaborative resource management can be established, how potential resource users can access in situ and on-farm conserved PGR, how to promote user access to in situ conserved populations, and the progress made thus far in integrating in situ and ex situ efforts. While it is acknowledged that full integration may be unrealistic without adequate resources for Genetic Resource Centres and the rectification of skill gaps, the potential to significantly enhance the long-term, sustainable conservation of PGR diversity holds profound existential benefits for humanity in the 21st century.

Conservation, characterization and exploitation of agrobiodiversity are key factors to guarantee food security and face future challenges such as climate changes. These issues are the subject of a series of international agreements, such as the Convention of Biological Diversity, with its Nagoya Protocol, and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) adopted in 2001 and entered into force in 2004. Italy ratified the Treaty in 2004 and instituted a long-lasting program, RGV-FAO, to implement it. CREA is one of the three organizations involved in the RGV-FAO Program, together with the National Research Council (CNR) and Reti Semi Rurali. CREA maintains a total of 40,186 accessions including cereals, vegetables, fruits, forages, industrial crops, forest and woody crops, medicinal and aromatic plants, and their wild relatives. Accessions are conserved using different ex situ conservation systems (seeds, in vivo plants, vegetative organs and in vitro plantlets), and characterized using genetic, morpho-phenological and/or biochemical methods. Herein, we will present the CREA long-lasting program RGV-FAO with some examples of the use of plant genetic resources in breeding programs, including molecular approaches. Some critical issues related to access and benefit sharing in PGRFA, such as the Nagoya Protocol and the Digital Sequence Information, will be discussed, highlighting their potential impact on food security and on the advancement of knowledge.

Musk yarrow (Achillea erba-rotta subsp. moschata (Wulfen) I. Richardson) is endemic to the Central Alps, and is used to flavour alcoholic beverages. Despite its popularity as aromatizing agent and its alleged beneficial effects on digestion, the phytochemical profile of the plant is still largely unknown and undiscovered. As a consequence, its authentication in aromatized products is impossible beyond sensory analysis allowing forgery. To address these issues, we phytochemically characterized a sample of musk yarrow from the Italian Eastern Alps, identifying, in addition to widespread phytochemicals (taraxasterol, apigenin), the guaianolides 3, 8, 9; the seco-caryophyllane 6; and the polymethoxylated lipophilic flavonoids 1, 4, and 5. The flavonoid xanthomicrol 1, a major constituent of the plant, was cytotoxic to HeLa cells, but only modestly affected primary 3T3 fibroblasts. On account of their stability, detectability by UV absorption, and concentration, the oxygenated flavonoids qualify as markers to validate the supply chain of the plant growers to consumers.

Achillea erba‐rottasubsp.moschata(Wulfen) I. Richardson is endemic of the Central Alps and distributed in several Italian Regions, where is used for its medicinal and aromatic properties. Nine wild populations of the species were characterized for their essential oil content and composition. In total 45 components were detected of which 40 were identified, accounting from 96.3 % to 98.8 % of the total oil. Monoterpenes represented the main class of compounds (from 84 % to 90.9 %), beingcis‐thujone (from 1.1 % to 48.4 %), camphor (from 1.8 % to 36.9 %), 1,8‐cineole (from 4.9 % to 23.4 %),trans‐thujone (from 2.2 % to 33.9 %) andp‐cymene (from 1.8 % to 4.8 %) the most abundant ones. The relative amount of chamazulene, detected in some accessions, was here reported for the first time in this species. High variability in the essential oil composition resulted among the investigated accessions, which were grouped by multivariate analysis into four main clusters, in some cases according to their site of origin. Beyond their possible chemo‐systematic significance, the obtained results represent useful indications for the selection of interesting chemotypes within the species, especially in the perspective of its future cultivation.

Horseradish is a crop grown for its edible underground parts. The development of new cultivars is hindered by the species' predominant vegetative reproduction, making it essential to evaluate locally cultivated accessions to identify new types suitable for cultivation. To this end, 11 horseradish accessions from family vegetable gardens in Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy were examined using 26 qualitative and six quantitative morphological descriptors and characterized by the five major glucosinolates (GSLs) present in the rhizome compared to a reference cultivar. A wide range of variability was observed for the considered qualitative morphological traits. The rhizome's top and basal diameters were 9.9 and 6.2 cm, respectively, with an average fresh weight of 521 g. Total GSL content ranged between 79.5 and 133.5 μmol/g dry weight (DW), with sinigrin (SIN) being the primary component at an average content of 110.0 μmol/g DW. Differences among the investigated accessions were noted for quantitative traits describing their productive features and for GSL content. A positive correlation was discovered between the biometric traits of the plant's underground parts and the SIN and total GSL content, suggesting a link between the quality and yield of the edible product. According to the multivariate analysis, accessions were grouped into three main clusters: the largest of the reference cultivar and the majority of accessions with similar productive and qualitative traits; another featuring two with good qualitative and productive characteristics. The investigated accessions proved to be a valuable germplasm source for cultivating the species.