S25 - Session P2 - Plant breeding of Coriandrum sativum L. from landraces collected in Alentejo (Portugal)

Authors: Noémia Farinha *, Maria Churra, Mariana Paulo, Elsa Lopes, Ana Barata, Violeta Lopes, Ana Cristina Figueiredo, Carmo Serrano, Orlanda Póvoa

Coriandrum sativum L. (coriander) represents more than 70% of the area cultivated for fresh herb consumption in Portugal. The main goal of this work is to value the traditional germplasm of coriander from south Portugal (Alentejo), through the selection within the lines with the greatest agronomic potential, for subsequent submission to the Portuguese National Catalog of Varieties. The collection of seeds from landraces from farmers began in 2003 in Alentejo. Morphological variability was observed among accessions, as well as higher vegetative plant biomass production of some accessions, when compared with commercial varieties. The selection program was started inside the accessions with the greatest agronomic potential in 2014/2015. The goal was to reduce the variability within each accession and obtain plants with high production of basal leaves, high seed production per plant and large seed size (recently introduced selection criteria). After 2018/2019, more than 250 segregation lines, belonging to six accessions, are currently being tested and selected annually; the descriptors of these lines are: basal leaf density, flowering date, flower color, anthocyanin stem pigmentation, plant height, fruit weight per plant and fruit size. An evolution towards plants with greater density of basal leaves and larger fruits was achieved. The future breeding program will use dynamic selection criteria, suited to the purpose for which the variety is intended: leaf production, seed production or essential oil content and composition.