An Artemisia argyi cultivar, designated ‘Pyeong-an-ae’, was developed to enhance yield, lodging resistance, and functional compound content for medicinal use. The breeding objective was to select a high-yielding cultivar with improved agronomic performance and regional adaptability. The breeding material originated from an open-pollinated population of a collected accession (MPR-0506), and superior lines were selected through pedigree selection. Line AA1903 was selected for favorable growth traits and subsequently evaluated in yield and regional adaptation trials under the designation Y-MCD-007-1 in Eumseong-gun and Pyeongchang-gun, Korea. ‘Pyeong-an-ae’ exhibited an erect growth habit, thicker stems, and a larger leaf area than the control (Artemisia argyi landrace), resulting in enhanced lodging resistance and biomass production. The average dry leaf yield was 535 kg/10a, approximately two-fold higher than that of the control. The cultivar maintained relatively higher levels of eupatilin than the control before flowering. RAW264.7 macrophage-based bioactivity assays showed that the water extract exhibited lower cytotoxicity than the ethanol extract. Both extracts significantly inhibited LPS-induced nitric oxide production, with the ethanolic extracts exhibiting stronger inhibitory effects. ‘Pyeong-an-ae’ is vegetatively propagated and registered under Plant Variety Protection No. 398. Its superior agronomic traits, stable bioactive compound contents, and functional properties support its potential for commercial cultivation and medicinal applications.
Sang-Hoon Lee, Chung-Berm Park, Yong-Ku Kang, Geum-Soog Kim, Sin-Hee Han, Ae-Jin Choi, Seung-Ho Han, Jong-Yeob Kim, Hyun-Ro Park, Mok Hur, Chun-Geon Park
Korean. J. Breed. Sci. 2018;50(3):236-239. Published online September 1, 2018
A new Rehmannia glutinosa cultivar ‘Dagang’ was bred from ‘Jihwang 1’ (check variety) seedlings by the medicinal crop breeding team of the National Institute of Horticulture and Herbal Science, RDA, in 2010. It has pink flowers, a dark brown seed coat, and a light yellow root cortex. The plant type was intermediate erect, whereas ‘Jihwang 1’ showed some drooping. The leaf shape was narrow oblong, whereas ‘Jihwang 1’ was oblong. The yield of dried root was higher than that of ‘Jihwang 1’. ‘Dagang’ showed stronger resistance to root rot than did ‘Jihwang 1’, rendering it more stable in cultivation. The regional adaptation trials were conducted at three different locations from 2009 to 2010. The average yield of ‘Dagang’ was 20.1 ton/ha, which was 14% higher than that of ‘Jihwang 1’. Also, compared with ‘Jihwang 1’, the yield of ‘Dagang’ was 1%–3% higher than that of the existing cultivars ‘Kokang’ and ‘Togang’. This cultivar could adapt to most of the cultivation areas in Korea, except for mountainous regions (Registration No. 4724).