I. V. Michurin’S Work on Expansion of the Plant Horticulture Assortment and Improvement of Food Quality

Abstract

October 2015 marks the 160th anniversary of the birth of Ivan V. Michurin. As a scientist and plant breeder, he made a significant improvement of many fruit and berry plants, and flowers. He developed methods of plant breeding, especially regarding long-distance hybridisation of fruit plants, and promoted gardening to the north and east of Russia. He introduced some new berry species, such as Actinidia and black chokeberry, and was the first in Russia to use dwarf and semi dwarf stocks of apples. Michurin initiated the mass movement of gardeners and horticulture experimenters in USSR who changed and significantly extended the assortment and areas of fruit and berries cultivation in the country. He not only brought together a representative collection of species and varieties of fruit, berry and flower plants from around the world, but also used them in breeding by hybridization, including interspecific. He created some new artificial interspecific hybrids such as Cerapadus (cherry and bird cherry tree hybrid), and others. Michurin created 132 cultivars. Eleven of them are not only cultivated, but are also included in “The State Register of Protected Plant Breeding of the Russian Federation”.

The Sorbus spp.—Underutilised Plants for Foods and Nutraceuticals: Review on Polyphenolic Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Potential

“…These new hybrids have been bred particularly for northern conditions and they have demonstrated great frost-resistance in the Nordic countries [31]. The famous crossbreeds of S. aucuparia in Russia were called 'Burka', 'Likjornaja', 'Dessertnaja', 'Granatnaja', 'Rubinovaja', and 'Titan' [32]. The Western European hybrids of S. aucuparia include 'Apricot Queen', 'Brilliant Yellow', 'Chamois Glow', 'Pink Queen', and 'Salmon Queen' [33].…”

Total Phenolic and Total Flavonoid Content, Individual Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant Activity in Sweet Rowanberry Cultivars

“…This program introduced new hybrids of rowanberry with the Aronia , Malus , Mespilus and Pyrus species [ 3 ]. The most popular cultivars from Russia are ‘Burka’, ‘Likjornaja’, ‘Dessertnaja’, ‘Granatnaja’, ‘Rubinovaja’ and ‘Titan’ [ 5 ]. In comparison with wild species, ‘Granatnaja’ and ‘Alaja Krupnaja’ are characterized by an enhanced taste without the traces of astringency and by larger, darker fruits [ 6 ].…”

Antioxidants Characterization of the Fruit, Juice, and Pomace of Sweet Rowanberry (Sorbus aucuparia L.) Cultivated in Estonia

“…To overcome this hindrance, the first sweet rowanberry clones were selected from the Sudety Mountains (Czech Republic) already in the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, Russian scientist and plant breeder Michurin started a breeding program of sweet rowanberries for northern conditions and developed the most interesting group of S. aucuparia hybrids with Pyrus, Malus, Aronia, or Crataegus species [ 10 ]. The taste of the cultivated hybrid fruits such as Likernaja, Alaja Krupnaja, and Granatnaja ( Figure 1 ), is less astringent, and the fruits are usually larger and darker in color than those of wild rowanberries [ 9 , 11 ].…”