Globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus L.) contributes significantly to the Mediterranean agricultural economy, with an annual production of about 750 Mt (more than 60% of global production) from over 80kha of cultivated land. Italy is the leading world producer (about 470 Mt), followed by Spain (188 Mt), France (52.5 Mt) and Greece (35 Mt). In southern Europe, artichoke production is an important component of regional economic stability and social development and, thanks to its long growth cycle, its cultivation provides employment almost the whole year round. Globe artichoke is also cultivated, although to a lesser extent, in the Near East (Turkey and Iran), North Africa (Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia), South America (Argentina, Chile and Peru), and the United States (mainly in California), and its cultivation is spreading in China (55 Mt in 2005) (FAO data 2005: http://faostat.fao.org/). The major importing countries of the fresh product are France, followed by Italy and Canada. Spain is the leading exporter of processed product, being responsible for about 85% of the traded market (Bianco, 2007). The edible parts of the globe artichoke are the immature composite inflorescences (heads or buds, more formally referred to as capitula), and these are consumed worldwide as both a fresh and a canned delicacy (Figure 1). At flowering, leathery green bracts encase a purple-blue flower. Each plant produces small, medium and large capitula, with the largest formed at the apex of the central stem (primary head). The smaller capitula (secondary heads) develop on the lateral branches.
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- Amplify Fragment Length Polymorphism
- Amplify Fragment Length Polymorphism Marker
- Globe Artichoke
- External Transcribe Spacer
- Varietal Group
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Lanteri, S., Portis, E. (2008). Globe Artichoke and Cardoon. In: Prohens, J., Nuez, F. (eds) Vegetables I. Handbook of Plant Breeding, vol 1. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30443-4_2
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