Germplasm Innovation And Evaluation Of Large-flowered Chrysanthemum For Tea

Chrysanthemum（Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat.）are ornamental,edible,drinkable,and have been used for medicinal purposes for many years.As a beverage,the demand of chrysanthemum for tea is keep rising from consumers due to its multiple health benefits.Traditionally,people use small flower type and white varieties of chrysanthemum for both tea and medicinal purposes in China.However,in recent years,consumers are beginning to pay more attention to chrysanthemum for tea with large flower type and bright color,which can be brewered in a single flower.At present,the chrysanthemum varieties with large flower that used for tea are mainly‘Jinsi Huangju’,etc.,leading to fewer choices for manufacturers and consumers,which can not satisfy the target market.Therefore,it is highly significant to breed new chrysanthemum variety for tea,with large flower in diameter,graceful and unique appearance,pure and bright color.In this study,using the high-quality large-flowered chrysanthemum variety for tea‘Jinsi Huangju’as the female parent,and the cut-flower chrysanthemum with large flower in diameter,graceful and fulfilled appearance,numerous petals,thick and solid petals,pure and bright flower color as the male parent,to configure hybrid combinations.By examinating the agronomic traits,sensory quality and active ingredient content based on analytic hierarchy process,configured the evaluation system for agronomic traits,commercial characters and comprehensive evaluation of large-flowered chrysanthemum for tea,to select the new germplasm candidates with large flower in diameter,excellent flower in shape and color,suitable for brew with a single-flower,which contributed greatly to chinese agriculture and enriched chinese chrysanthemum resources.This study also provided theoretical framework for screening of excellent germplasm and development of new large-flowered chrysanthemum tea varieties.The main results are summarized as follows:1.This study selected‘Jinsi Huangju’as the female parent,and cut-flower chrysanthemum‘QD3-13’,‘QD3-110’,‘QD3-121’and‘QD3-122’as the male parent to configure hybrid combinations.The ornamental traits of flowers were used as the evaluation factors,and F₁ individual plants were selected by expert consultation and analytic hierarchy process.Results showed that 46 F₁ individual plants were proceed to the next screening.2.By examinating the drought resistance,disease resistance and detecting the field phenotypic traits in 46 F₁ lines and their parents.C44-1,C45-1 and JQ12-3 with highly drought resistance were selected,and JQ1-3 with highly disease resistance was selected.In addition,by examinating flower characters,growth characters and stress resistance,the agronomic traits of 46 F₁ lines and their parents were screened.The evaluation criteria consists of 12 indexes,including fresh flower diameter,fresh flower weight,ray floret number,florescence,plant height,crown diameter,number of branches,branch diameter,number of flowers per plant,yield of fresh flower,drought resistance and disease resistance.The evaluation system of agronomic traits of large-flowered chrysanthemum for tea was established by analytic hierarchy process.Results showed that fresh flower diameter is of the highest weight value,i.e.0.260,followed by florescence with a weight value of 0.147and yield of fresh flower with a weight value of 0.139.The K-Means cluster analysis showed that 7 F₁lines were classified as superior materials,i.e.A45-6,A49-4,B48-5,C41-1,JQ1-2,JQ4-5 and JQ12-2,with excellent comprehensive performance of agronomic traits.3.By evaluating the sensory quality and determining the active ingredients in 46 F₁lines and their parents,5 F₁ lines with superior sensory quality were selected,i.e.C41-1,C44-1,C46-3,JQ1-2,and JQ12-2;Moreover,6 F₁ lines with high content of active ingredients were selected,i.e.C31-1,C64-4,JQ4-7,JQ5-3,JQ5-4,and JQ7-6.By evaluating the sensory quality and examinating the active ingredients,the commercial characters of 46 F₁lines and their parents were screened.The evaluation criteria consists of11 indexes,including dry flower diameter,dry flower type,dry flower color,aroma,liquor flower type,liquor flower color,taste,total flavones,chlorogenic acid,luteolin glycosides,and iso-chlorogenic acid A.The evaluation system of commercial characters of large-flowered chrysanthemum for tea was based on the analytic hierarchy process.Results showed that dry flower diameter is of the highest weight value,i.e.0.2100,followed by liquor flower type,liquor flower color and taste with a weight value of 0.1185.The K-Means cluster analysis showed that 6 F₁ lines were classified as superior materials,i.e.C41-1,C44-1,C46-3,C64-4,JQ5-2,and JQ12-2,with excellent comprehensive performance of commercial characters.4.A total of 20 indexes were selected as evaluation factors,including agronomic traits,sensory quality and active ingredient.The comprehensive and scientific evaluation system of large-flowered chrysanthemum for tea was based on the analytic hierarchy process for F₁ lines screening.The weight value of each trait was determined,and dry flower diameter showed the greatest influence,with a weight value of 0.148,followed by liquor flower type,liquor flower color and taste with a weight value of 0.084,and then florescence and yield of dry flower with a weight value of 0.080.The K-Means cluster analysis showed that 46 F₁ lines and parents were divided into 3 grades,i.e.6 superior materials,29 good materials,and 16 poor materials,which accounted for 11.76%,56.86%and 31.37%,respectively.Among them,the superior materials are C41-1、C44-1、C46-3、JQ4-7、JQ12-2 and‘Jinsi Huangju’.