Enhancing conservation and use of local vegetable landraces: the Almagro eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) case study

We have used the Almagro pickling eggplant landrace as a model for the enhancement of a local vegetable landrace. The programme has included characterization, selection, and breeding activities. Considerable intra-landrace diversity has been found for morphological traits and molecular markers. Characteristic morphological traits have allowed its registration as conservation variety. Also, universal and specific simple sequence repeat markers have been found for the Almagro landrace. The chemical characterization revealed that Almagro eggplant has a high content in bioactive phenolics. Organoleptic tests revealed that pickles produced with Almagro eggplant are superior to those of the related Andalusian landrace. The selection programme has led to the development of a pure line with increased yield and reduced fruit calyx prickliness. A participatory breeding programme, in which selection is made by farmers in their own field, has been initiated to introduce the no-prickles trait from three other varieties in the genetic background of the Almagro eggplant. The results of the programmes show that plants with the Almagro eggplant ideotype and with reduced prickliness can be selected in the backcross generations. As a result of the enhancement programme the acreage and total production of Almagro eggplant has tripled in the last decade.