Volume 51 Number 1 Article 3
Year 1997 Month 1
Title: Description of 80 Cultivars and 36 Clonal Selections of Chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) from Northwestern Spain
Authors: S. Pereira-Lorenzo and J. Fernandez-Lopez
Abstract:
Chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) is an important species in Galicia, Northwestern Spain, and
cultivars for nut and timber production have been reported since Middle Ages.
Nut and timber
production are mainly based on old grafted cultivars which were supposedly introduced by the
Romans.
For five years these old cultivars of chestnut were studied by agronomic traits: tree, fruit,
burr, leaves, male catkin and phenology.
These cultivars were also characterized based on five
isoenzyme systems: isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH; EC 1.1.1.42), phosphoglucoisomerase (PGI;
EC 5.3.1.9), phosphoglucomutase (PGM; EC 2.7.5.1), malate dehydrogenase (MDH; EC 1.1.1.37),
and shikimate dehydrogenase (SKDH; EC 1.1.1.25). This paper presents the most important
characteristics of 80 cultivars and 36 clonal selections.
This information will be useful for growers
choosing cultivars for new orchards and researchers looking for specific agronomic characters.
Clonal selections have been made by choosing superior trees within heterogenous cultivars and
permitting a clear distinction among cultivars.
The most important characteristics of these cultivars
are non-divided nuts, sweetness, easypeeling and late harvesting (26 October to 11 November).
Some cujtivars have very large nuts.
The most interesting cultivars are 'Famosa,' 'Garrida,' 'Inxerta,'
'Ventura,' 'Peluda,' 'Praga d'Afora,' 'Redondo' and 'Soutogrande' whose nuts can be used fresh,
peeled, or in marron glace. There is a great deal of genetic variability in Galician chestnuts and it is
recommended that these cultivars be preserved in the Germplasm Bank of the Centro de
Investigaciones Forestales de Lourizan.
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