Rare fruit crops that are promising for breeding

Currently, the gene pool of southern fruit, nut and berry crops of the Nikita Botanical Gardens comprises 8,380 cultivars and forms and is represented by 20 crops. In addition to traditional ones, new, less common crops are of great interest: pawpaw, hawthorn, Crimean rowan, dogwood, Chinese actinidia, black chokeberry, thornless blackberry, serviceberry and Japanese medlar. which are characterized by a complex of economically valuable traits and, first of all, a high content of biologically active substances in the fruits. For example, pawpaw contains an increased amount of potassium (314-368 mg/100 g and magnesium (109-120 mg/100 g); hawthorn –ascorbic acid (up to 250 mg/100 g) and P-active substances (380-680 mg/100 g); Crimean rowan – ascorbic acid (up to 160 mg/100 g), carotenoids (11.16-26.41 mg/100 g); dogwood – polyphenols (150-400 mg/100 g); Chinese actinidia – potassium (312 mg/100 g); black chokeberry – P-active substances (2000-6500 mg/100 g), shadberry – P-active substances (up to 985 mg/100 g); thornless blackberry - P-active substances (200-300 mg/100 g; Japanese medlar – potassium (315-348 mg/100 g). For most of these crops, there is a collection and scientific reserve in the NBG-NSC. In accordance with the created primary gene pool, introduction and breeding work with pawpaw, hawthorn, crimean rowan, chinese actinidia, black chokeberry, shadberry and japanese medlar can be carried out in the laboratory of southern fruit and nut crops, and with dogwood and thornless blackberry – in the laboratory of selection and variety study of pome and berry crops.

1. Aiba L.Ya., Eremin G.V. Actinidia. In the book: Modern methodological aspects of the organization of the selection process in horticulture and viticulture. Krasnodar, 2012. P. 440-443.

2. Andreev R.O., Goncharenko V.A., Rybalkin E.P., Gorina V.M. Biological characteristics of introduced varieties of Actinidia deliciosa Chev. in the conditions of the Southern coast of Crimea. Bulletin of the State Nikitsky Botanical Garden. 2025. 154:55-63.

3. Arifova Z.I., Khoruzhy P.G., Gorb N.N. Economic and biological assessment of a new variety of dogwood (Cornus mas L.) Pavlusha. Bulletin of the State Nikitsky Botanical Garden. 2019. 130: 126-129. DOI 10.25684/NBG.boolt.130.2019.17.

4. Babina R.D., Sotnik A.I., Arifova Z.I., et al. Atlas of varieties of pome and berry crops from the collection of the Nikitsky Botanical Garden / edited by Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yu. V. Plugatar. Simferopol: IT "ARIAL", 2020 388 p.

5. State register of varieties and hybrids of agricultural plants approved for use. URL: https://gossortrf.ru/registry. (date of access: 25.07.2025).

6. Dunaevskaya E.V., Komar-Temnaya L.D. Content of some essential elements in selection forms of large-fruited hawthorns Crataegus pennsylvaniсa Ashe and Crataegus submollis Sarg. // Bulletin of Agrarian Science. 2013. 7:33-35.

7. Ermakov M.A., Volkova O.D., Khotsialova L.I., Zagumennikova T.N., Potapova A.V. Rowan in the collection of the laboratory of cultivated plants of the Main Botanical Garden named after N.V. Tsitsin of the Russian Academy of Sciences // Hortus bot. 2019. 14. DOI: 10.15393/j4.art.2019.6224.

8. Kafarova N.M., Kazakhmedov R.E. Japanese medlar is a promising subtropical crop in the conditions of Southern Dagestan // Problems of development of the regional agro-industrial complex. 2024. 1 (57):71-76. DOI 10.52671/20790996_2024_1_71.

9. Komar-Temnaya L.D. Ornamental fruit plants for landscaping / edited by Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yu.V. Plugatar. Simferopol: IT "ARIAL", 2020. P. 106-114.

10. Komar-Temnaya L.D. Pomological characteristics of some species of hawthorn (Crataegus L.) // Modern scientific research in horticulture: materials of the VIII international conference on horticulture. 2000. Part 2. P. 77-81.

11. Kulyan R.V., Ivanenko F.K., Ksenofontova D.V. New varieties of Asimina triloba (L.) Dunal (Three-lobed Asimina) for the subtropics of Russia // Fruit and berry growing in Russia. 2015. 41:223-227.

12. Kuminov E.P. Non-traditional berry crops for gardens of the European part of Russia // Gardening and viticulture. 2001. 3:27-29.

13. Plugatar Yu.V., Smykov A.V., Opanasenko N.E., Sotnik A.I., Babina R.D., Tankevich V.V., Mitrofanova I.V., Shoferistov E.P., Gorina V.M., Komar-Temnaya L.D., Khohlov S.Yu., Chernobaj I.G., Lukicheva L.A., Fedorova O.S., Baskakova V.L., Litchenko N.A., Shishkina E.L., Linvinova T.V., Balyikina E.B. Towards the creation of industrial orchards of fruitcrops in the Crimea. Simferopol, 2017. 212 р.

14. Polonskaya A.K., Galushko R.V., Gerasimchuk V.N. Biochemical potential of fruits and vegetative organs of Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl. in the conditions of the Southern coast of Crimea // Bulletin of the State Nikitsky Botanical Garden. 2006. 92:30-34.

15. Radkevich M.V. Hawthorn: a genetic reserve for improving the breed-varietal composition of cultivated plants // Fruit growing. 2023. 35(2): 178-185. https://doi.org/10.47612/0134-9759-2023-35-178-185.

16. Rengarten G.A. Non-traditional fruit crops of Russia: introduction, improvement of assortment. Selection, genetics and varietal agricultural technology of fruit crops: collection of scientific articles. Orel, 2013. P. 138-148.

17. Rupasova Zh.A., Garanovich I.M., Shpitalnaya T.V., Vasilevskaya T.I. et al. Biochemical composition of fruits of chokeberry varieties (Aronia melanocarpa) introduced in Belarus // Bulletin of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. Series of Biological Sciences. 2015. 1:6-11.

18. Semenova L.G., Dobrenkov E.A. Blackberry – Rubus L. subgenus Rubus // Catalog of the world collection of VIR. St. Petersburg: FGBNU FRC All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources named after N.I. Vavilov. 2016. 831:34-36.

19. Smykov A.V., Komar-Temnaya L.D., Gorina V.M. et al. Atlas of fruit crops varieties of the Nikita Botanical Gardens collection / ed. Yu. V. Plugatar. Simferopol: ARIAL, 2018. P. 5-212.

20. Khokhlov S.Yu., Dunaevskaya E.V. Biological value of the fruits of Pawpaw // International scientific and practical conference "Current issues of fruit growing and ornamental gardening at the beginning of the XXI century". Sochi, 2014. Pp. 366-372.

21. Shishkina E.L. Introduction and selection of Actinidia deliciosa in the Nikitsky Botanical Garden // Subtropical and ornamental gardening. 2015. 54:67-72.

22. Yakimov V.V. Blackberry in Russia. Dimitrovgrad: Publishing Center "UNIPress", 2014. 372 p.