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Identification and Selection of Ornamental Pineapple Plants F.V.D. Souza, J.R.S. Cabral, J.A. dos Santos-Serejo, A.P. de Matos, D.H. Reinhardt and G.A.P da Cunha Embrapa Cassava and Tropical Fruits Caixa Postal 7, 44380-000 Cruz das Almas, Bahia Brazil F.R. Ferreira Embrapa Genetic Resources J.A. Pereira Undergraduate student Agronomy College Abstracts

At present, there is a great demand for exotic tropical ornamental plants due to the beauty, exuberance and durability of their flowers. Of these, consumers and markets show special interest in ornamental pineapples, standing out among other Bromeliaceae. Brazil presents the largest genetic diversity in the genus Ananas, with a great potential for breeding new varieties. The Pineapple Germplasm Bank of Embrapa Cassava & Tropical Fruits, the largest in the world, holds 743 Bromeliaceae accessions including the genus Ananas. Some of those accessions are potential sources of materials with ornamental value due to their beauty, rusticity and uniqueness. In a preliminary trial with the objectives of characterizing and identifying accessions with ornamental value, morphological descriptors have been used after floral induction. The main aspects considered were colors and shapes of flowers and leaves and the absence of spines. Several accessions of A. comosus var. bracteatus (‘Tricolor’), A. comosus var. erectifolius and A. comosus var. ananassoides were crossed. The progenies were evaluated and some hybrids with interesting characteristics have been retained. INTRODUCTION

The cut flower and ornamental plant industry contributes about 16 billion US dollars to the international trade, moving around 8 billion US dollars (Kiuna et al., 2003). The Brazilian share of this market is very small, only 2.5%. It can be increased by taking advantage of Brazil’s genetic resources. The Brazilian flower trade increased 30% from 2002 to 2003, corresponding to 20 million US dollars (Farid, 2003).

Currently, there is an increasing demand for exotic ornamental plants, especially tropical species, due to their beauty, exuberance and shelf life. Of the tropical plants used as ornamentals, those belonging to the genus Ananas have shown increasing consumer preference, as have other Bromeliaceae. Considered as the center of origin of pineapples, Brazil has the greatest genetic diversity of the genus Ananas, thus showing great potential for the creation of new ornamental varieties through breeding programs.

Among the ornamental pineapples, the one known in Brazil as “Abacaxi de Salão” (Ananas comosus var. ananassoides (Baker) Coppens & Leal), and in the European and United States markets as Dwarf Pineapple, has very ornamental variegated leaves, with yellowish leaf margins and pinkish streaks (Giacomelli and Py, 1981). Fruits are reddish and very beautiful. The flowers of this variety are highly priced, although the fruits are larger than those of other A. comosus var. ananassoides representatives. Ananas comosus var. erectifolius (L.B. Smith) Coppens & Leal gives the best known ornamental pineapples marketed in Brazil. At present, that variety is commercially grown in the State of Ceará and the flowers are sent to Germany, the Netherlands and the United States. The scientific names of all species, as cited in this paper, are in accordance with Coppens d’Eeckenbrugge and Leal (2003).

In the Pineapple Active Germplasm Bank (PAGB) of Embrapa Cassava & Tropical Fruits, located in the Municipality of Cruz das Almas, State of Bahia, Brazil,

Proc. V th Intl. Pineapple Symp. Ed. P.H. Joubert Acta Hort. 702, ISHS 2006

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there are 743 accessions grown under field conditions, most of them belonging to the genus Ananas, with few other accessions of the Bromeliaceae. This is the largest pineapple germplasm collection in the world. According to Cabral et al. (1998), the PAGB of Embrapa Cassava & Tropical Fruits holds the largest genetic variability, at both intra and interspecific levels. It is noteworthy that in the PAGB there are several very beautiful, rustic and uncommon accessions, showing high potential as ornamentals. The genetic variability in the PAGB includes abundant sources of variation for color, type, size of fruit and crown, as well as plant morphology (Cunha and Cabral, 1999). However, the selection criteria of ornamental plants have to be in accordance with the standard required by the market. Plants to be grown indoor (in pots), to be planted in gardens, or used in landscape projects, have to be spineless, erect, and produce small fruits on the top of a short peduncle. Sometimes, the presence of spines on the leaf margin is not a negative characteristic, and those varieties bearing spines may be used as fences or in landscape projects, established in large areas. For those varieties grown for cut “flowers”, such as A. comosus var. ananassoides, the most important characteristics are fruit shape, color and shape of the crown, as well as shelf life, size and strength of the peduncle. Considering that in the PAGB of Embrapa Cassava & Tropical Fruits there are several accessions showing potential to be used as ornamentals, the aim of this work was to identify pineapple genotypes either to be directly grown or to be included in breeding programs to create new ornamental varieties with superior characteristics. MATERIALS AND METHODS

Pineapple accessions in the PAGB were characterized after natural flowering. The selection criteria for indoor cultivation were color and size of fruits and crowns, leaves and plant morphology and spineless leaves. For the ananassoides variety, commercialized mainly as “cut flowers”, the selection criteria were crown/fruit size ratio; length, strength and habit (erect or slightly decumbent) of the peduncle. The crown/fruit ratio considered ideal is from 0.5 to 1.5.

Those accessions identified as promising were selected and submitted to vegetative multiplication for further evaluations, including resistance to the fusariose disease, caused by the fungus Fusarium subglutinans, and response to floral induction treatment. Some of those genotypes have already been used as parents in crosses, in addition to characterization studies. In this way, crosses were performed between A. comosus var. bracteatus (Lindl.) Coppens & Leal cv. Tricolor, A. comosus var. erectifolius and A. comosus var. ananassoides.

For hybridizations, inflorescences of the female parent were protected with cheese cloth bags prior to the opening of the first flower. Pollinations were performed immediately after anthesis, from 7 to 8 a.m., every day up to the end of the flowering period. Anthers of the male parent were removed and gently passed over the stigmata of the flower of the female parent. Resulting seeds were germinated on paper towel, in trays, transferred to plastic bags, kept under greenhouse conditions and then transferred to nurseries where they were kept until reaching an adequate size for field planting. Soil preparation and fertilization were performed as previously described (Souza, 1999). Planting distances were 0.90 x 0.30 m and standard cultural practices were applied during the plant cycle. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Eight Ananas accessions, considered as promising ornamental pineapples, were selected from the PAGB of Embrapa Cassava & Tropical Fruits. They may be marketed as cut “flowers”, grown indoor (in pots) or used in landscape projects (parks and/or gardens). Four accessions of A. comosus var. ananassoides showed very impressive inflorescences, good crown/fruit ratio (0.5 to 1.5), and peduncle length varying from 30 to 50 cm.

The accession LBB-1478 (BRA-012882), A. comosus var. ananassoides, is a medium-sized plant with prostrated leaves, spines regularly distributed on the leaf

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margins, not suitable for indoor cultivation. Its flowers are a beautiful clear pink color (Fig. 1A). Shelf life is about 35 days without any additional treatment, making it ideal as cut “flower”, either during inflorescence development or as small fruits, both of them very ornamental. Compared to other A. comosus var. ananassoides, LBB-1478 displays an erect peduncle of medium thickness and adequate strength. These aesthetic and shelf-life characteristics are very important.

Another accession of A. comosus var. ananassoides, FRF-223 (BRA-004936), displays a very beautiful inflorescence, suitable for cut “flower” production. It also shows very good plant morphology, making it interesting for both indoor cultivation and gardening. FRF-223 has prostrated pinkish leaves of medium width, with regularly spaced small spines on the leaf margins. The inflorescence is very ornamental, of an intense pink color at the dead petal stage as shown in Fig. 1B. The fruits are very ornamental and the crown/fruit ratio is equal to 0.7 (Fig. 1C). This is a very important characteristic since large crowns promote fruit drop and significantly reduce shelf life. On the other hand, very small crowns make the fruit less attractive for ornamental purposes. Due to its desirable characteristics FRF-223 was included in the pineapple breeding program aiming at generating hybrids with good ornamental characteristics. It has already been crossed with the accession FRF-1387 (BRA-013676) of A. comosus var. erectifolius.

Besides LBB-1478, the A. comosus var. ananassoides accession FRF-221 (BRA-004898), was also considered a very promising genotype due to its morphology and fruit beauty (Fig. 1D), with a very ornamental crown and straight peduncle. Another interesting characteristic of this accession is the crown/fruit ratio around 1.0, considered excellent. These characteristics, mainly the very ornamental crown, were also observed in the accessions ‘Mirim’ (BRA-003891) (Fig. 1E).

Within Ananas comosus var. erectifolius, two accessions were selected: ‘Selvagem 6’ (BRA-001627) and ‘Curauá Roxo’ (BRA-013323). ‘Selvagem 6’ shows a small to medium plant height, thus being ideal for indoor purposes. The plants have an erect, well equilibrated habit, medium width spineless leaves well distributed around the axis, an intense purple color (Fig. 1F), and very ornamental small fruits that display a purplish color when ripe.

‘Curauá Roxo’ is taller than Selvagem 6, with longer medium width purplish spineless leaves. This accession was selected for landscape projects on large areas (parks or gardens) not only for its large size, but also for its beauty and rusticity (Fig. 1G). Its fruits are very ornamental, with a crown/fruit ratio around 1.0, an extremely beautiful crown, the intense red color of the leaf base and apex contrasting with the dark reddish median part. One accession of A. comosus var. bracteatus, ‘Silvestre 166’ (BRA-002186) was also selected due to the beauty and the long shelf life of its flowers (Fig. 1H). This accession is very rustic and may also be used in landscape projects of large areas.

Another selected accession was ‘Silvestre 25’ (BRA-002020), belonging to the species Ananas macrodontes, whose flowers express a rare beauty and long shelf life (Fig. 1I). The plants have decumbent light green leaves, with inverted spines. The inflorescences are rounded, with an intense pink color, and small bluish “flowers”. Shelf life is about 50 days. This accession may be grown either for cut flowers or for landscape. Its rusticity and extremely long shelf life make this accession an important genotype to be used as an ornamental or in breeding programs.

Several progenies are growing under field conditions, two of them undergoing field evaluations: one originated from the cross between ‘Selvagem 6’ (A. comosus var. erectifolius) and ‘Perolera 4’ (Ananas comosus var. comosus); and the other from a clone of A. comosus var. erectifolius, already commercialized as ornamental pineapple, and ‘Perolera 4’. Five plants were preliminarily selected on the basis of their habit, varying from erect to prostrated, that is very interesting for growing indoors and landscape as well. Of the plants that showed prostrated morphology, two hybrids were selected, showing medium height and spineless green leaves. Another plant type, with erect spineless leaves of medium width, and a mixture of color ranging from green to purple, was also selected. Those with green color are conspicuous due to the fact that this is

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unusual in A. comosus var. erectifolius. Final evaluation will be performed after flowering and those selected plants will be multiplied to enable further evaluations, mainly for resistance to fusariose disease and to pineapple mealybug wilt. Literature Cited Cabral, J.R.S., Ferreira, F.R., Matos, A.P. de and Sanches, N.F. 1998. Banco ativo de

germoplasma de abacaxi da Embrapa Mandioca e Fruticultura, Cruz das Almas, BA; EMBRAPA-CNPMF. Documentos 80. 30p.

Cunha, G.A.P. da and Cabral, J.R.S. 1999. Taxonomia, espécies, cultivares e morfologia. p.17-51. In: G.A.P. da Cunha, J.R.S. Cabral and L.F. da S. Souza (eds.), O abacaxizeiro – cultivo, agroindústria e economia, Embrapa Comunicação para Transferência de Tecnologia, Brasilia.

Coppens d'Eeckenbrugge, G. and Leal, F. 2003. Morphology, anatomy and taxonomy. p.13-32. In: D.P. Bartholomew, R.E. Paull and K.G. Rohrbach (eds.), The Pineapple: Botany, Production and Uses, CAB International, Wallingford (Great Britain).

Farid, J. 2003. Flores e frutas brasileiras ampliam participação no mercado externo. www.estado.estadao.com.br

Giacomelli, E.J. and Py, C. 1981. O Abacaxi no Brasil. Campinas: Fundação Cargill. Kiuna, I., Freitas, S.M. and Camargo, L.B. 2003. Comércio Exterior Brasileiro de Flores e

Plantas Ornamentais, 1997-2002. Informações Econômicas SP 33(6):50-61.

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Figurese

Fig. 1. Ornamental pineapple accessions from the Active Germplasm Bank of Embrapa

Cassava & Tropical Fruits. A-E: Ananas comosus var. ananassoide; F-G: Ananas comosus var. erectifolius; H: Ananas comosus var. Bracteatus; I: Ananas macrodontes.