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The 2009 ASHS Annual Conference

1737:
Elderberry Research and Development In Missouri

Sunday, July 26, 2009: 2:40 PM
Jefferson A (Millennium Hotel St. Louis)
Patrick Byers, Greene County Extension Office, Springfield, MO
Andrew Thomas, Southwest Research Center, University of Missouri, Mount Vernon, MO
John Avery, Horticulture, Outreach, Advisor, Agriculture, Missouri State University, Mountain Grove, MO
Chad Finn, USDA ARS HCRL, Corvallis, OR
Penelope Perkins-Veazie, Horticultural Sciences, North Carolina State University, Kannapolis, NC
Hwei-Yiing Johnson, Lincoln University, Jefferson City, MO
Sanjun Gu, Cooperative Extension and Research, Lincoln University, Jefferson City, MO
The American elderberry, Sambucus canadensis L, is a widely adapted large shrub or small tree native to eastern North America.  The fruit, blossoms, and other plant parts are useful in a wide range of medicinal and culinary products.  The Elderberry Development Program, established in 1997, is a multi-institutional research and development project with collaborators at the University of Missouri, Missouri State University, USDA-ARS, North Carolina State University, and Lincoln University.  The program has three phases: evaluation of elderberry germplasm and development of superior elderberry cultivars, investigations into elderberry culture, and investigations into the biochemical and genetic characteristics of elderberry.  Progress to date in phase 1 includes the collection and characterization of 68 elderberry selections and cultivars; replicated testing at multiple sites of 22 superior selections; initial preparations to name and release two cultivars; and a multilocational genotype by environment study that compared Missouri and Oregon grown plants.  Phase 2 investigations include a multi-year study at two sites that compared four pruning treatments; a study to evaluate foliar nutrient content of old shoots vs new shoots during  three collection periods; and plant performance under three levels of nitrogen fertilization.  Phase 3 studies include three years of measurement of juice characteristics from 12 selections and cultivars, including measurements of antioxidant activity; investigations into antioxidant activity in non-fruit plant tissue; and investigations into the genetic relationships among selections of S. canadensis and other Sambucus species in our germplasm collection using the Target Region Amplification Polymorphism genotyping technique.
See more of: Native Fruits of the Midwest
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