of Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW...e-mail: [email protected] ISSN 1898-8784 Druk:...

Annalsof WarsawUniversity

of LifeSciences– SGGW

Horticultureand Landscape Architecture

No 362015

ISSN 1898-8784

1898 8784

ISSN 1898-8784

Agriculture(Agricultural and Forest Engineering)Animal ScienceForestry and Wood TechnologyHorticulture and Landscape ArchitectureLand Reclamation

WARSAW UNIVERSITY OF LIFE SCIENCES PRESS

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Editorial BoardBogdan BrzezieckiEwa DobrowolskaWłodzimierz KlucińskiAnna Kołłajtis-DołowyAndrzej LenartMałgorzata ŁobockaJózef MosiejJan NiemiecArkadiusz OrłowskiMaria ParlińskaAurelia Radzik-RantStanisław StępkaMarek SzyndelCzesław Waszkiewicz

DistributionAnnals are distributed by the Bookshop of Warsaw University of Life Sciences Press, 166 Nowoursynowska St., Warsaw, Poland.

ContentsILCZUK A., JAGIEŁŁO-KUBIEC K. The effect of plant growth regulators and sucrose on the micropropagation of com-mon lilac (Syringa vulgaris L.) 3

NOWAKOWSKA K., PACHOL-CZAK A. The effect of auxins on the root-ing of cuttings in several species of Fa-baceae 13

ROSŁON W., GONTAR Ł., KOSA-KOWSKA O., OSIŃSKA E. Yield and quality of plantain (Plantago major L.) herb in the second year of cultivation 21SITAREK M., RADZANOWSKA J.,WTULICH J., DOBRZYŃSKI J.,

GAJEWSKI M. Sensory characteristics of two parsley (Petroselinum sativum ssp. crispum L.) cultivars depending on stor-age conditions 33

SKRYPCHENKO N. Fruit characteris-tics of Actinidia cultivars obtained at the M. Grishko National Botanical Garden of the Ukrainian NAS in Kyiv 47

DOMANOWSKA M. Social initiatives as a means of participation in the trans-formation of city space 57

KACZYŃSKA M., SIKORA D. The church garden as an element shaping the quality of city life – a case study in southern Warsaw 71

Annalsof WarsawUniversity

of Life Sciences– SGGW

Horticultureand Landscape Architecture No 36

Warsaw 2015

EDITOR IN CHIEF Renata Giedych

STATISTICAL EDITORWojciech Hyb

LANGUAGE EDITORJohn Catlow

EDITOR STAFFDominika CichockaAnna DołomisiewiczLaura Szczepańska

REVIEWERS 2015

Mária Bihuňová Sandra Costa Honorata Danilćenko Oksana DzjubaEllen Fetzer Monika Grzeszczuk Elvyra JarieneAgnieszka Jaszczak Nilgül KaradenizAgnieszka KępkowiczPiotr LatochaBożena Matysiak Bogusz Modrzewski Piotr Muras Peter Seemann Anna StaniewskaRoberta ŠtěpánkováPaweł Szot Daniel Załuski

WARSAW UNIVERSITY OF LIFE SCIENCES PRESSe-mail: [email protected]

ISSN 1898-8784

Druk: POLIMAX s.c., ul. Nowoursynowska 161 L, 02-787 Warszawa

Paper version of Annals of Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW, Horticulture and Landscape Architecture is a primary version of the journal.

THEME EDITORS Barbara Łata, Katarzyna Michalska – HorticultureMałgorzata Kaczyńska – Landscape Architecture

Abstract: The effect of plant growth regula-tors and sucrose on the micropropagation of common lilac (Syringa vulgaris L.). Common lilac (Syringa vulgaris L.) is an attractive plant with colourful and fragrant fl owers, often used in urban areas. Although the main method of propagation of the shrub is budding or grafting, it is also propagated by tissue culture. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of the presence and concentration of IBA or NAA on rhizogenesis in ‘Katherine Havemeyer’ and ‘Sen-sation’ lilac microcuttings. Shoot proliferation was dependent on the type and concentration of cytokinin in the medium. For both cultivars the highest shoot numbers were obtained on medium supplemented with meta-topolin: 5.0 mg·dm–3 for ‘Katherine Havemeyer’ and 2.5–7.5 mg·dm–3 for ‘Sensation’. The addition of 30 g·dm–3of su-crose to the medium improved regeneration and stimulated shoot growth in the cultivar ‘Kath-erine Havemeyer’. The largest number of roots was obtained on medium supplemented with1.0 mg·dm–3 IBA for ‘Katherine Havemeyer’ and with 0.5–2.0 mg·dm–3 IBA for ‘Sensation’. The use of NAA resulted in dieback of microcuttings.

Key words: cytokinins, IBA, NAA, microcut-tings, rhizogenesis, shoot regeneration

INTRODUCTION

The genus Syringa, belonging to the ol-ive family (Oleaceae), includes about 30 species originating from Asia and South

Eastern Europe. The most common spe-cies widely planted in parks and gardens is the common lilac (Syringa vulgaris L.) – a shrub or small tree which can grow up to 7 m high and 3–4 m wide. Lilacs are suitable for formed hedges since they tolerate pruning. Due to the numer-ous root suckers (secondary shoots) the shrub expands rapidly, and hence it can be successfully used for the reforesta-tion of slopes, roadsides and banks of reservoirs. Lilacs are also cultivated for cut fl owers, because they can easily be forced [Latocha 2006].

Lilac cultivars are generally propa-gated vegetatively to maintain genetic stability. In practice, nurserymen repro-duce the common lilac only by budding or grafting. However, the production of large quantities of grafts is limited by the season and the long period needed for rootstock production, and success of propagation depends on the method of grafting. Therefore, in vitro propagation is highly useful for rapid multiplication of this species. In recent years, tissue cultures have been used for the propaga-tion of lilac [Concioiu et al. 2012, 2013, Lyubomirova and Iliev 2013]. The re-generation rate of shoots is a crucial step for the micropropagation of lilac in com-

Annals of Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGWHorticulture and Landscape Architecture No 36, 2015: 3–12(Ann. Warsaw Univ. Life Sci. – SGGW, Horticult. Landsc. Architect. 36, 2015)

The effect of plant growth regulators and sucrose on the micropropagation of common lilac (Syringa vulgaris L.)AGNIESZKA ILCZUK*, KATARZYNA JAGIEŁŁO-KUBIECDepartment of Ornamental Plants, Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW

* e-mail: [email protected]

4 A. Ilczuk, K. Jagiełło-Kubiec

mercial production. In lilac micropropa-gation, axillary branchings [Gabrysze-wska 1989, Cui et al. 2009] and/or single-node explants [Welander 1987, Gabryszewska and Warabieda 1992, Charlebois and Richter 2004] might be used. Axillary buds are activated by cy-tokinins, which play an important role in both methods [Charlebois and Richter 2004, Nesterowicz et al. 2006]. 6-ben-zylaminopurine (BA) and 6-(γ,γ-dimethylallylamino)purine (2iP) have been the most frequently used cytokinins in lilac regeneration by axillary branching. They increase the multiplication rate, but also reduce the rooting potential of microcuttings [Gabryszewska 1989]. The use of BA analogues, such as [6-(3-hydroxybenzylamino)purine] (meta-topolin, mT), could be an alternative way to avoid such side effects.

Sucrose is the main source of carbon for in vitro cultures of many plants, in-cluding lilacs. Plant cells and tissues in a culture medium lack autotrophic abil-ity and therefore need an external car-bon source for energy. The addition of an external sucrose dosage to the me-dium enhances cell proliferation and shoot regeneration. The optimal sucrose concentration in a medium should be suffi cient to satisfy the basic energy re-quirements for cell differentiation with-out imposing any negative osmotic ef-fects on shoot formation. This indicates that sucrose acts not only as a carbon energy source in a medium, but also as an osmoticum [Nowak et al. 2004] and that different sucrose concentrations are one of the factors controlling the regen-eration and growth of shoots [Gibson 2000]. A number of studies indicate the

positive impact of 30 g·dm–3 sucrose on the plant culture, as it induces the maximum number of shoots as well as being benefi cial for shoot elongation in S. vulgaris [Refouvelet et al. 1998, Gabryszewska 2011].

Factors affecting adventitious root formation include the type and concen-tration of natural or synthetic auxin in the rooting medium [De Klerk 2002]. Use of auxin is one of the most common and effective ways to enhance rooting of plants. For the rooting of lilac, vari-ous auxins have been used, in particular indole-3-butric acid (IBA) [Gabrysze-wska and Warabieda 1992, Nesterowicz et al. 2006, Oprea and Concioiu 2012, Lyubomirova and Iliev 2013, Parvanova et al. 2015], 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) [Oprea and Concioiu 2012] and indoleacetic acid (IAA) [Charlebois and Richter 2004], although the type and concentration requirements of each of these varied between cultivars.

The aim of the present experiment was to investigate the infl uence of vari-ous types and levels of cytokinins and sucrose concentrations on the prolif-eration rate and growth of shoots in S. vulgaris, in vitro. The rooting po-tential of regenerated microshoots was also evaluated.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Plant material and culture conditions

The source plants of common lilac (Sy-ringa vulgaris L.) ‘Katherine Have-meyer’ and ‘Sensation’ for tissue culture were originally collected in February//March from three-year-old shrubs grow-ing in a nursery. For establishment of

The effect of plant growth regulators and sucrose... 5

a culture, young vegetative shoots of 30 cm length were collected and washed under running tap water for 5 min to re-move any surface dirt. Then the stems were inserted into beakers with dis-tilled water and placed in a phytotron. After four weeks the shoots (2–3 cm long) grown from buds were collected as a source of primary explants. Next, the leaves were removed and the stems were cut into nodal segments approx. 0.5 cm long. They were surface-disin-fected with 70% ethanol for 1 min, and further disinfected with 1.5% solution of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl). After disinfection the explants were placed on basal MS [Murashige and Skoog 1962] medium supplemented with 5.0 mg·dm–3 6-benzyladenine (BA) (Sigma-Aldrich), 0.02 mg·dm–3 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) (Sigma-Aldrich) and 20 g·dm–3

sucrose, and solidifi ed with 8.0 g·dm–3

BactoTM Agar (Becton, Dickinson and Company, USA). The pH was adjusted to 5.8 with 1 N NaOH and 1 N HCl be-fore autoclaving at 121°C at 110 kPa for 20 min. This medium has been used for the micropropagation of other lilac genotypes [Nesterowicz et al. 2006]. For ‘Sensation’ the concentration of MgSO4 in the MS medium was doubled (740 mg·dm–3) due to chlorosis appear-ing on the leaf blades (own research – unpublished data).

The cultures were incubated in a growth chamber at 23 ±1°C with a 16 hlight/8 h dark photoperiod. The light intensity was 35 μmol·m–2·s–1 from cool white fl uorescent tubes.

Effect of type and concentration of cytokinins on shoot regeneration

To promote axillary and adventitious shoot regeneration, nodal explants 0.5 cm long were cultured on a medium supplemented with the following growth regulators: 0.02 mg·dm–3 NAA in com-bination with 6-benzylaminopurine (BA), kinetin (KIN) 6-(γ,γ-dimethylallylamino)purine (2iP) (Sigma-Aldrich) in concentrations of 1.25, 2.50 and5.0 mg·dm–3, or [6-(3-hydroxybenzylamino)purine] (meta-topolin, mT) (Duch-efa) in concentrations of 1.25, 2.5, 5.0 and 10.0 mg·dm–3. The control medium did not contain plant growth regulators. After eight weeks the following data were recorded: percentage of regenerated plants, total number of regenerated shoots per explant, and shoot length (cm).

Effect of sucrose concentration on shoot regeneration

One of the aims of the experiment was to determine the effect of sucrose concen-tration on shoot regeneration. Single-node shoot fragments 0.5 cm long were placed on MS medium supplemented with sucrose at concentrations of 0, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40 g·dm–3. For all treatments 0.02 mg·dm–3 NAA and 5.0 mg·dm–3

BA were added. After eight weeks the percentage of regenerated plants, total number of regenerated shoots per ex-plant and shoot length (cm) were re-corded.


Effect of auxin on rooting of microcuttings

One of the aims of the experiment was to determine the optimal concentration and type of auxin in the rooting medium. Apical shoot fragments 1.5 cm long were placed on MS medium supplemented with NAA or IBA in concentrations of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 mg dm–3. The control me-dium did not contain any growth regula-tors. After eight weeks the rooting rate, number of roots, root length and length of shoots (cm) were recorded.

Experimental design and statistics

Experiments were conducted in a com-pletely randomized design. Each treat-ment consisted of 60 explants/microcut-tings (three replications, each containing 20 objects). The arcsin transformation of regeneration rate percentages was per-formed [Wójcik and Laudański 1989]. The data were subjected to one factorial analysis of variance using SPSS. Mul-tiple comparisons among means were made using Duncan’s test at p ≤0.05.

RESULTS

Effect of type and concentration ofcytokinin on shoot regeneration

The infl uence of the type and concen-tration of cytokinin on the percentage of regenerating explants was signifi cant (Table 1). On all media, single-node ex-plants of the cultivar ‘Katherine Have-meyer’ regenerated at a rate between 75 and 100%. Single-node shoot fragments of the cultivar ‘Sensation’ regenerated at a rate of 75–95%.

The type and concentration of this cy-tokinin affected the number of shoots per explant and their length (Table 1). In both cultivars the greatest number of shoots per explant was obtained on the medium with mT (four–fi ve shoots). For the best proliferation of both tested varieties the optimal concentration of cytokinin in the medium was 5 mg·dm–3 (more than fi ve shoots per explant). Increasing the con-centration of mT in the medium resulted in the formation of a smaller number of short shoots. The longest shoots were recorded for ‘Katherine Havemeyer’ on medium supplemented with 2.5 mg·dm–3 2iP, and for ‘Sensation’ on medium sup-plemented with 1.25 mg·dm–3 mT. In ‘Sensation’ explants placed on the medi-um supplemented with BA, 2iP or KIN, from 0.8 to 1.2 shoots per explant were obtained. For ‘Katherine Havemeyer’ the lowest number of small shoots (from 1.3 to 1.6 cm in length) were obtained on the medium supplemented with KIN, regardless of its concentration.

Effect of sucrose concentration on shoot regeneration

The effect of sucrose concentration on the percentage of regenerated explants was signifi cant (Table 2). Shoots placed on a medium without sucrose regener-ated at a much lower rate than in the other treatments. A signifi cantly higher degree of regeneration in both culti-vars of common lilac (over 90%) was obtained on the medium supplemented with 20.0–40.0 g·dm–3 sucrose. In the presence of 40.0 g·dm–3 sucrose leaf chlorosis was observed.


TABLE 1. Effect of type and concentration of cytokinin on proliferation rate of Syringa vulgaris shoots

Plant growth regulators (mg·dm–3)

Cultivar‘Katherine Havemeyer’ ‘Sensation’

Reg

ener

atio

n ra

te (%

) **

Num

ber o

f sh

oots

Leng

th o

f sh

oots

(cm

)

Reg

ener

atio

n ra

te (%

) **

Num

ber o

f sh

oots

Leng

th o

f sh

oots

(cm

)

BA 2iP KIN mT NAA

0 0 0 0 0 98.3 b* 1.1 ab

1.8bc

78.3 ab

0.9 a

1.5 ab

1.25 0 0 0 0.02 85 ab

1.2 ab

1.7 ab

95.0 b

1.1a

2.8 e

2.50 0 0 0 0.02 100 b

1.6 bc

2.8 f

75.0 a

0.9 a

1.9 b-e

5.00 0 0 0 0.02 93.3 ab 2.1 cd

1.5 ab

80.0 ab

1.0 a

2.2 c-e

0 1.25 0 0 0.02 100 b

1.7 bc

2.5 d-f

78.3 ab

0.9 a

2.4 c-e

0 2.50 0 0 0.02 100 b

2.3 d

3.2 g

85.0 ab

1.0a

2.7 de

0 5.00 0 0 0.02 78.3 a

2.0 cd

2.3 de

81.7 ab

0.9 a

2.6 de

0 0 1.25 0 0.02 93.3 ab 0.9 a

1.6 ab

75.0 a

0.8 a

2.1 b-e

0 0 2.50 0 0.02 85.0 ab

0.9 a

1.3 a

93.3 ab

1.2 a

1.8 a-c

0 0 5.00 0 0.02 75.0 a

1.0 a

1.5 ab

88.3 ab

0.9 a

2.4 c-e

0 0 0 1.25 0.02 100 b

4.3 e

2.2 c-e

88.3 ab

3.6 b

4.6 g

0 0 0 2.50 0.02 100 b

4.4 e

2.6 ef

93.3 ab

5.3 cd

3.7 f

0 0 0 5.00 0.02 100 b

5.3 f

2.4 d-f

90.0 ab

5.8 d

2.3 c-e

0 0 0 7.50 0.02 100 b

4.6 e

2.4 d-f

93.3 ab

5.3 cd

2.1 b-e

0 0 0 10.00 0.02 100 b

4.1 e

2.1 cd

95.0 b

4.6 c

1.9 a-d

* Means followed by the same letter are not signifi cantly different at p ≤0.05.** 100% was 60 explants.


The effect of sucrose concentration on the number and length of shoots was also signifi cant (Table 2). The highest multi-plication rate and the longest shoots in both cultivars were obtained on the me-dium supplemented with 30.0 g·dm–3 su-crose. For ‘Katherine Havemeyer’ three shoots per explant, 2.7 cm long, were formed, while for ‘Sensation’ there was one shoot 4.1 cm long.

Effect of auxin on rooting of microcuttings

A signifi cant effect of auxin on the per-centage of rooted microcuttings was ob-

served (Table 3). Microcuttings placed on the medium supplemented with IBA root-ed at a rate of almost 100% in the case of ‘Katherine Havemeyer’ and 75–88% in the case of ‘Sensation’.

For both cultivars the effect of IBA on the number of roots and their aver-age length was signifi cant. The greatest number of roots was obtained on medi-um supplemented with 1.0 mg·dm–3 IBA for ‘Katherine Havemeyer’. However, their length did not differ signifi cantly from the plants rooted on medium with 2.0 mg·dm–3 IBA. With the presence of auxin in the medium (0.5–2.0 mg·dm–3)

TABLE 2. Effect of sucrose concentration in medium on shoot proliferation

Sucrose(g·dm–3)


Regen-eration rate

%**

Number of shoots

Length of shoots (cm)

Regen-eration rate

%**

Number of shoots

Length of shoots (cm)

0 48.3 a* 0.6 a 0.5 a 23.3 a 0.2 a 0.3 a5 76.7 b 2.4 b 1.5 b 55.0 b 0.6 b 0.8 b10 93.3 b 2.2 b 1.7 b 68.3 b 1.2 c 1.3 c20 96.7 b 2.1 b 1.5 b 95.0 c 1.0 c 2.6 e30 98.3 b 3.3 c 2.7 c 91.7 c 1.0 c 4.1 f40 91.7 b 2.0 b 1.7 b 90.0 c 1.2 c 2.1 d


TABLE 3. Effect of the auxin IBA on rooting in two lilac cultivars

IBA(mg·dm–3)


Rooting rate (%)

**

Number of roots

Length of roots

(cm)

Length of shoots

(cm)

Rooting rate (%)

**

Number of roots

Length of roots

(cm)

Length of shoots

(cm)

0 78.3 a* 0.6 a 1.1 a 1.6 a 61.7 a 0.4 a 0.7 a 1.5 a0.5 100 b 2.1 b 1.2 a 2.3 b 81.7 b 2.6 b 1.5 b 1.5 a1.0 100 b 3.0 c 2.1 b 2.2 b 88.3 b 2.7 b 2.5 c 1.8 a2.0 98.3 b 2.4 b 2.1 b 2.9 b 75.0 b 2.5 b 2.1 b 1.8 a



the ‘Sensation’ microshoots formed sig-nifi cantly more roots than those placed on a medium lacking growth regulators. The longest roots were produced by mi-croshoots placed on the medium supple-mented with 1.0 mg·dm–3 IBA.

Microshoots of both cultivars rooted on the medium containing NAA pro-duced a large amount of callus at the shoot bases, regardless of the auxin con-centration. After three weeks of culture the plant material died.

DISCUSSION

Microshoot proliferation is a decisive step for the in vitro culture of lilacs, since it directly determines the feasibility of mass micropropagation. Proliferation may be achieved through axillary shoot inducement, where cytokinins play an important role. In a wide range of lilac cultivars, BA and 2iP are the cytokinins used to initiate shoot organogenesis. They are used either individually or in combination with NAA. Lyobumirova and Iliev [2013] for S. vulgaris used the MS medium with 5.0 mg·dm–3 BA and 0.1 mg·dm–3 IBA. Nesterowicz et al. [2006] lowered the BA concentra-tion to 1.0 mg·dm–3, replacing the IBA with 0.02 mg·dm–3 NAA. Tomsone et al. [2007] obtained the best results in the presence of 1.0–3.0 mg·dm–3 2iP in combination with 0.05 mg·dm–3 NAA. Variable sensitivity to the type and con-centration of growth regulators is also characteristic for lilac cultivars. For ‘Katherine Havemayer’ Refouvelet et al. [1998] applied a medium supplemented with 5.0 mg·dm–3 BA and 0.01 mg·dm–3

NAA, while Tomsone et al. [2007] used

BA in combination with 0.1 mg·dm–3 IAA. Charlebois and Richter [2004] pointed to the lower sensitivity of ‘Kath-erine Havemayer’ explants to the type of cytokinins, compared with the cultivars ‘Charles Joly’ or ‘Madame Florent Step-mann’ [Dragt et al. 1992], for which the presence of 2iP riboside in the medium rather than 2iP was more effective.

In this study the activity of meta-topo-lin (mT) isolated from poplar (Populus ×canadensis Moench cv. Robusta) was examined [Strnad et al. 1997]. Meta-topolin is a hydroxylated analogue of BA with a hydroxyl group attached to its N6 side chain, which results in the for-mation of O-glucoside metabolites that can be reversibly sequestrated in planta to produce active cytokinin forms when needed. Results indicate that mT and its derivatives are superior to BA in im-proving shoot production and reducing tissue culture-induced abnormalities in plant species [Bairu et al. 2007]. Both ‘Katherine Havemeyer’ and ‘Sensation’ explants proliferated more profusely on a medium enriched with mT than in other treatments. Kaminek et al. [1987] demonstrated that mT is translocated faster than BA in plant tissue. Previous studies suggested that response to cyto-kinin was mediated by family-specifi c receptors, which regulate a signal-trans-duction pathway [Heyl and Schmülling 2003]. Mok et al. [2005] published a study showing that BA and mT have different affi nity in receptor recognition. The authors found that mT and trans-zea-tin interact with the Arabidopsis AHK4 receptor, while BA and thidiazuron (TDZ) interact with the maize ZmHK1 receptor.


Sucrose as a carbon source sup-ports the growth of plant cells in a cul-ture [Nowak et al. 2004]. Sucrose in concentrations from 10 to 50 mg·dm–3

is generally used for in vitro cultures. The optimum sucrose concentration as an effi cient carbon source has been examined in tissue cultures of some species of lilac, such as Syringa ×hya-cinthifl ora [Cui et al. 2009] and S. jo-sickaea [Catana et al. 1998], in which 30 mg·dm–3 sucrose enhanced shoot de-velopment, while for S. chinensis Will. cv. Saugeana mannitol at a concentration of 16 mg·dm–3 was also suitable [We-lander et al. 1987]. In our experiment, a gradual increase in sucrose concentra-tion resulted in an increase in shoot ini-tiation only in ‘Katherine Havemayer’, while ‘Sensation’ produced the same number of shoots in the presence of10–40 g·dm–3 sucrose. However, at a concentration of 30 g·dm–3 the shoots were signifi cantly longer than at other concentrations. Ahmad et al. [2007] indi-cated that sugars are perceived by cells as chemical signals in vitro, with very high concentrations acting as stressing agents. Perata et al. [2003] reported that high sugar concentrations could inhibit gib-berellin signalling and suppress cell divi-sion and growth in several different plant systems. Gibberellin is thought to play an important role in the control of cell divi-sion and elongation, and in the control of apical dominance (paradormancy) [Hor-vath et al. 2003]. In turn, Gabryszewska [2011] reported that increased sucrose concentrations (5–30 mg·dm–3) reduced axillary shoot formation in S. vulgaris, but a supply of nitrogen salts could over-come the inhibitory effect of sucrose.

It is well known that the type and con-centration of auxin play a central role in the induction of adventitious roots [De Klerk 2002]. These factors could lead to variation in the percentage of rooting in common lilac microcuttings. For rooting lilac microcuttings, the most commonly used auxin is IBA. Lyobumirova and Iliev [2013] obtained the best results on the MS medium enriched with 1.0–5.0 mg·dm–3

IBA, while Nesterowicz et al. [2006] considered a higher concentration of that growth regulator to be appropriate. In turn, Parvanova et al. [2015] obtained 75––100% of rooted microcuttings by raising the concentration of IBA to 7.5 mg·dm–3. In our experiment the appropriate IBA concentration was 1.0 mg·dm–3, since in the case of both cultivars those micro-cuttings produced the largest number of roots. Also Oprea and Concioiu [2012] observed better responses of microcut-tings to lower concentrations of auxin: ‘Madame Lemoine’ produced roots in the presence of 0.5 mg·dm–3 of NAA, and ‘Sensation’ did so in the presence of 0.6 mg·dm–3 IBA. The results obtained in this study do not confi rm those re-sults, since on the medium enriched with NAA, microshoots of both lilac cultivars produced a signifi cant amount of callus tissue at the bases and then died. NAA produced toxic effects when used in all tested concentrations.

CONCLUSIONS

The presence of meta-topolin in the me-dium and 30 mg·dm–3 of sucrose con-tributed to better regeneration of shoots, regardless of the cultivar. In both ‘Kath-erine Havemayer’ and ‘Sensation’, IBA


was found to have a positive impact on root formation. The presence of NAA in the medium resulted in callusing of mi-crocuttings and their dieback.

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Streszczenie: Wpływ regulatorów wzrostu i sa-charozy na mikrorozmnażanie lilaka pospolitego (Syringa vulgaris L.). Lilak pospolity (Syringa vulgaris L.) jest atrakcyjną rośliną, o barwnych i przyjemnie pachnących kwiatach, często wy-korzystywaną w przestrzeni miejskiej. Główną metodą rozmnażania tego krzewu jest okulizacja lub szczepienie. Często rozmnażany jest również w kulturach tkankowych. Celem badań było określenie wpływu obecności w pożywce MS różnego stężenia cytokininy w połączeniu z NAA oraz sacharozy na regenerację pędów oraz stęże-nia IBA lub NAA na ryzogenezę mikrosadzonek lilaka ‘Katherine Havemeyer’ i ‘Sensation’. Pro-liferacja pędów uzależniona była od rodzaju oraz stężenia zastosowanej w pożywce cytokininy. W przypadku obu odmian najwięcej pędów uzy-skano na pożywce wzbogaconej w meta-topolinę w stężeniu 5,0 mg·dm–3 dla odmiany ‘Katherine Havemeyer’ i 2,5–7,5 mg·dm–3 dla ‘Sensation’. Zastosowanie 30 mg·dm–3 sacharozy w pożyw-ce skutkowało lepszą regeneracją pędów oraz stymulowało ich wzrost u odmiany ‘Katherine Havemeyer’. Najwększą liczbę korzeni uzyskano na pożywce z dodatkiem 1,0 mg·dm–3 IBA w przy-padku odmiany ‘Katherine Havemeyer’ i 0,5–2,0 IBA mg·dm–3 dla ‘Sensation’. Zastosowanie NAA powodowało zamieranie mikrosadzonek.

Abstract: The effect of auxins on the rooting of cuttings in several species of Fabaceae. In view of their diversity, plants of the family Fabaceae are very popular among gardeners and landscape ar-chitects. They are used as solitary plants, ground covers or climbers, as well as for mass planting in green urban areas. The aim of this trial was to evaluate the effect of commercial rooting powders containing respectively 0.4% IBA (indolilo-3-bu-tyric acid), 0.2% NAA with 0.1% IBA, and 1% IBA, and a water solution of IBA (200 mg·dm–3), on the rooting of three Fabaceae species: Cytisus decumbens, Genista tinctoria ‘Royal Gold’ and Wisteria fl oribunda ‘Ludwik Lawin’. The tested preparations signifi cantly improved the degree and percentage of rooting in cuttings of all taxa. For W. fl oribunda and G. tinctoria the best results were obtained from the application of the prepa-rations containing 1% IBA and 0.2% NAA with 0.1% IBA, while in the case of C. decumbens the rooting powder with 0.4% IBA was equally effec-tive. Foliar application of the water IBA solution gave results comparable to the rooting powders in dyer’s broom, while in wisteria its effi ciency was lower than that of the commercial preparations.

Key words: IBA, ornamental shrubs, propagation, rooting powders

INTRODUCTION

Vegetative propagation is the most pop-ular method used to propagate plants of the Fabaceae family in commercial

nurseries. Non-commercial methods in-clude layering, used for the genera Cara-gana and Wisteria. Most leguminous plants are propagated by semi-lignifi ed cuttings harvested in July–August, or in June in the case of bean-tree. In dyer’s broom the rooting of such cuttings lasts longer than in other Fabaceae species [Hrynkiewicz-Sudnik et al. 2001, Hart-mann et al. 2011].

Root formation is induced and con-trolled by endogenous and exogenous factors, such as temperature, light, plant hormones and organic compounds. Phy-tohormones directly affect plant regen-erative abilities. Auxins are especially important for the control of growth and development, including formation of ad-ventitious roots [Šebánek 2008]. Nowa-days, foliar application of rooting stimu-lators is broadly used in the production of leafy ornamental shrubs. For over a century it has been known that sub-stances produced in the leaves control the growth of other plant parts. Auxins from water solutions may be applied on leaves, as they penetrate the inner tissues through the stomata and pass to the plant conductive system, where they move basipetally affecting rhizogenesis in cut-tings [Kroin 2014]. Since the discovery


The effect of auxins on the rooting of cuttings in several species of FabaceaeKAROLINA NOWAKOWSKA*, ANDRZEJ PACHOLCZAKDepartment of Ornamental Plants, Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW)


14 K. Nowakowska, A. Pacholczak

of natural plant hormones [Thimann and Went 1934] and production of synthetic growth regulators, auxins have been sys-tematically used to stimulate rooting of cuttings. Indolilo-3-butyric acid (IBA) is the most frequently used auxin, being a more effective hormone than indolilo--3-acetic acid (IAA) [Pop et al. 2011]. Water IBA solutions are now widely used by producers of annual, perennial and woody plants. The high effi cacy of water auxin solutions was proved by Davies [1980, 1982a, b]. The commer-cial method of foliar auxin application developed by Kees Eigenraam in 1985 was fi rst used by Dutch chrysanthemum growers [Kroin 2014]. Later, studies carried out by nurserymen led to the ex-tension of this method to woody plants [Drahn 2007].

The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of several commercial rooting powders on the degree and percentage of rooting in cuttings of Wisteria fl oribun-da ‘Ludwik Lawin’, Genista tinctoria ‘Royal Gold’ and Cytisus decumbens. The development of an effi cient method of rooting will allow to lower the pro-duction costs of leguminous plants and their market prices. This will further increase the popularity of leguminous plants and result in their more frequent planting in urban green areas and in pri-vate gardens.


The experiment was carried out on three taxa of woody shrubs: C. decumbens, G. tinctoria ‘Royal Gold’ and W. fl o-ribunda ‘Ludwik Lawin’ at the M.M. Kryt commercial nursery in Wola

Prażmowska near Warsaw. Two nodal cuttings approx. 5 cm long were made in on July 1, 2014, from shoots harvested from four-year-old stock plants grow-ing outdoors. In each species there were three replicates, each including 20 cut-tings. The cuttings were rooted in styro-foam fl ats fi lled with a peat substrate of pH 4.9–5.1. The fl ats with cuttings were placed under a tunnel covered with dou-ble milky foil and equipped with an ir-rigation/mist system. On the fi rst day the cuttings were treated with the fungicide Topsin (0.1%), and later every 10 days with Bravo (0.2%), Teldor (0.1%) or Previcur (0.1%). Substances applied to stimulate rooting were commercial pow-ders containing auxins: 0.4% IBA, 1% IBA, and 0.2% NAA with 0.1% IBA. A water solution of IBA (200 mg·dm–3) was applied on leaves, and untreated cuttings formed the control treatment (Table 1). Conditions under the tunnel where the cuttings for measurements were grown and sampled were 24–28°C, RH 90–100%.

TABLE 1. The experimental treatments Treatments and active substances Application method

Control –Water solution 200 mg·dm–3 IBA spraying of cuttings

Powder 0.4% IBA powder applied on base of cutting

Powder 1% IBA powder applied on base of cutting

Powder 0.2% NAA, 0.1% IBA

powder applied on base of cutting

On August 7 the experiment was ended, the rooted cuttings counted and the root ball development evaluated on

The effect of auxins on the rooting of cuttings... 15

a fi ve-point evaluation scale, where one represented an unrooted cutting and fi ve represented a cutting with the best de-veloped root system (Table 2).

TABLE 2. Evaluation scale of root developmentCharacteristic of the degree of rooting ScoreCutting without visible roots 1A few (1–3) short roots 24–5 roots, some of them branched, no root ball formed 3

Medium-sized root system composed of 6–10 branched roots forming a root ball

4

Well-developed, branched root system forming a root ball (over 10 roots) 5

To compare the means, percentages of rooted cuttings were transformed accord-ing to Bliss [Wójcik and Laudański 1989], while the degree of rooting was subject to root transformation: y = x2 + (x + 1)2. All of the data underwent one-factorial ANOVA followed by Duncan’s test atp = 0.05. The Statgraphics 4.1 program was used.

RESULTS

In C. decumbens the rooting percentage was 90% for the control cuttings, and 100% for those treated with auxin – ei-ther in powder form or as a foliar applica-tion (Fig. 1). The least developed root ball was observed in the untreated control cut-tings, which attained a score of 3.3, while in cuttings treated with any of the three powders the score was improved by more than one unit. There was no statistical dif-ference in root ball development between the two powders containing only IBA (0.4% IBA and 1% IBA) and the foliar IBA application, but the powder contain-ing IBA and NAA was signifi cantly bet-ter than the water solution of IBA alone.

In G. tinctoria ‘Royal Gold’, appli-cation of any of the three rooting pow-ders resulted in 100% rooting, while the untreated control cuttings and those sprayed with the water IBA solution had a rooting percentage of 90% (Fig. 2). The root ball in the control treatment was poorly developed (1.75). Applica-

FIGURE 1. The effect of the treatments on rooting degree and percentage of rooted cuttings in Cytisus decumbens (means marked with the same litter are not signifi cantly different at p = 0.05)


tion of the powder with 0.4% IBA or spraying of cuttings with the water IBA solution doubled the score (3.5), while use of the powder with 1% IBA and that containing 0.2% NAA plus 0.1% IBA further improved the degree of rooting, to 4.3 and 4.0 respectively.

The rooting percentage for con-trol cuttings of W. fl oribunda ‘Ludwik Lawin’ was 70% (Fig. 3). Foliar IBA

application did not improve the percent-age, while the powder with 0.4% IBA produced a small but signifi cant increase (to 79%). For cuttings treated with the powders containing 1% IBA and 0.2% NAA with 0.1% IBA the percentage was 90%. Root ball development in the control cuttings was poor, with a score of 2.2. Spraying cuttings with the water IBA solution gave a slight but signifi cant

FIGURE 2. The effect of the treatments on rooting degree and percentage of rooted cuttings in Genista tinctoria ‘Royal Gold’ (means marked with the same litter are not signifi cantly different at p = 0.05)

FIGURE 3. The effect of the treatments on rooting degree and percentage of rooted cuttings in Wis-teria fl oribunda ‘Ludwik Lawin’ (means marked with the same litter are not signifcantly different at p ≤0.05)


rise in the degree of rooting (2.8), while in cuttings treated with each of the three powders the score was over 3.5.

DISCUSSION

To obtain plants with well-developed root systems and vigorous above-ground parts, nurserymen use growth stimula-tors. Rooting powders containing auxins are used to increase the percentage of rooted cuttings, to improve root ball de-velopment and to shorten the production cycle, as the auxins enhance the initia-tion of roots and increase their number [Jankiewicz 1997]. IBA and NAA are acids commonly used in commercial plant production because of their effects on root development [Parađiković et al. 2013]. Rooting powder containing 1% IBA signifi cantly improved the rooting of cuttings in all three species included in this study. The positive effects of Rhizopon AA on the rooting of stem cut-tings in ninebark ‘Dart’s Gold’ and ‘Red Baron’, dogwood ‘Aurea’ and ‘Elegan-tissima’ and smoke tree ‘Royal Purple’ were reported by Jacygrad and Pachol-czak [2010] and Pacholczak et al. [2012, 2013b, 2015]. To stimulate rhizogenesis in smoke tree ‘Royal Purple’, which is diffi cult to root, Rhizopon AA contain-ing 2% IBA was used [Pacholczak et al. 2013a]. According to Aminah et al. (2006) IBA in the lower concentration of 0.8% gives a satisfactory percentage of rooted cuttings in Shorea parvifolia and Sh. macroptera. By contrast, Badji et al. [1991] showed that cuttings of Acacia senegal treated with the much higher IBA concentration of 8% achieved 70% rooting over two months, while 2%

IBA gave only 30% rooted cuttings. Bąbelewski and Strzelecka [2006] ob-tained an increase in the percentage of rooting in boxwood cuttings using the powder preparation Ukorzeniacz AB, which proved better than foliar applica-tion of IBA. Also, according to Czekalski [1998], boxwood cuttings treated with the powder Ukorzeniacz A rooted twice as well as the untreated controls. Bla-zich [1988] is of the opinion that IBA is more effective than NAA. The opposite was shown by Czekalski [2003], who tested the effect of three root stimulators on rhizogenesis in Aphelandra squar-rosa. He showed that Ukorzeniacz AB, which apart from IBA also contains NAA, improved rooting, although it did not signifi cantly affect the percentage of rooted cuttings. In the present trial, pow-der with 0.2% NAA and 0.1% IBA gave good results in all three species, similarly as in the experiment of Kapczyńska and Kubińska (2007) on rooting of gentian cuttings, where the preparation improved the rooting degree. According to Bhat-tacharjee and Balakrishna [1983], NAA (4,000 mg·dm–3) increased the percentage of rooted bougainvillea cuttings to 80%. Also, Bąbelewski and Szajsner [2014] reported that juniper cuttings treated with Ukorzeniacz AB (0.2% NAA and 0.1% IBA) had better developed root balls than the control cuttings.

In this work the effi ciency of foliar auxin application was compared with that of the powders applied to the bas-es of cuttings. The results of the foliar IBA were comparable to those resulting from the use of the powders only for C. decumbens, while in the other two


taxa the results were inferior. Similarly, Szydło and Maksim [1997] showed that spraying cuttings of Juniperus chinensis ‘Stricta’ and J. scopulorum ‘Skyrocket’ and ‘Blue Heaven’ with water IBA solu-tion was less effective than using a root-ing powder.

The above results show that auxins improved the rooting of the tested taxa of the family Fabaceae. Our observations may be useful for further investigations into improvement of propagation meth-ods for ornamental woody plants. Such investigations are necessary, as each taxon even within a given family may differ in its response to an auxin and the form of its application.

CONCLUSIONS

Rooting powder containing 1% IBA and a powder with 0.2% NAA and 0.1% IBA were the most suitable auxin-containing preparations for the rooting of cuttings in W. fl oribunda ‘Ludwik Lawin’ and G. tinctoria ‘Royal Gold’, while in C. decumbens the powder with 0.4% IBA was equal-ly effective.Foliar application of the IBA water solution gave results comparable to the rooting powders in dyer’s broom, while in wisteria its effi ciency was lower than that of the powders.

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Streszczenie: Wpływ auksyn na ukorzenianie sadzonek wybranych gatunków z rodziny Faba-ceae. Rośliny z rodziny Fabaceae, dzięki swej różnorodności, cieszą się dużym zainteresowa-niem wśród ogrodników oraz architektów krajo-brazu. Są stosowane zarówno jako rośliny soli-terowe, okrywowe, pnące, jak i wykorzystywane do masowych nasadzeń w przestrzeni miejskiej. Celem pracy było sprawdzenie wpływu wybra-nych preparatów auksynowych zawierających odpowiednio: 0.4% IBA, 0.2% NAA i 0.1% IBA, 1% IBA oraz wodnego roztworu kwasu indolilo--3-masłowego (IBA 200 mg·dm–3), na ukorzenia-


nie trzech gatunków z rodziny Fabaceae: Cytisus decumbens, Genista tinctoria ‘Royal Gold’ oraz Wisteria fl oribunda ‘Ludwik Lawin’. Wykaza-no, że zastosowane preparaty istotnie poprawiły stopień oraz procent ukorzenionych sadzonek. W przypadku ukorzeniania sadzonek glicynii kwiecistej i janowca barwierskiego najlepsze wyniki uzyskano po zastosowaniu dwóch pre-paratów: jeden zawierający 1% IBA oraz dru-

gi mający w swym składzie 0.2 % NAA i 0.1% IBA, zaś u żarnowca położonego równie dobrze zadziałał ukorzeniacz zawierający 0.4% IBA. Dolistna aplikacja wodnego roztworu IBA dała porównywalne wyniki do ukorzeniaczy w formie pudrów dla sadzonek żarnowca, a w przypadku glicynii jej wydajność była mniejsza w stosunku do preparatów handlowych.

Abstract: Yield and quality of plantain (Plantago major L.) herb in the second year of cultivation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of time of plantation establishment and time of har-vesting on the quality of plantain herb in the sec-ond year of cultivation. Seeds for the establishment of a plantation were collected in 2011 from natural habitats located in Mazowsze, Lublin and Podlasie provinces. The seeds were sown in 2012 and 2013 in spring (April) and in late spring (June). The herb was harvested in 2013 and 2014, both when the plants were in the vegetative phase and during their fl owering. Dry mass of herb per 1 m2, as well as content of mucilages, iridoid glycosides, phenolic acids and fl avonoids, were determined. A signifi -cantly higher mass of herb was obtained from plots where the seeds were sown in late spring than from those sown in mid spring. Plants collected in the fl owering stage yielded a higher mass of herb than those collected in the vegetative phase. The high-est content of iridoid glycosides (the main chemi-cal compounds) was recorded on plots established in late spring. The herb from the population from Podlasie province contained signifi cantly more of these compounds than those from Mazowsze and Lublin provinces.

Key words: plantain, cultivation, mucilages, iri-doid glycosides, phenolic acids, fl avonoids

INTRODUCTION

Plantain is a popular medicinal plant growing wild all over the world. It is

a characteristic element of cosmopoli-tan, synanthropic and semi-synanthropic habitats. In Poland plantain occurs in gardens, on boundaries, meadows and pastures, overgrown roads, roadsides, dumps etc. It is also found among crops, where it is treated as an onerous weed. The main raw material of plantain con-sists of leaves harvested from natural sites during the fl owering stage of the plant’s development. The active sub-stances are mucilages, iridoid glycosides (aucubin, catalpol, asperuloside etc.) [Ravn and Brimer 1988, Rřnsteda et al. 2000, Zubair et al. 2011], bitterness, tan-nins, organic and phenolic acids [Ma-khudov et al. 2011], saponins, minerals and fi ber [Grandi et al. 1982, Samuelsen 2000, Andrzejewska-Golec 2010]. An important component of the herb is fl a-vonoids: plantagin, quercetin, isorham-netin, hyperoside, rutin, scutellarin [Lebedev-Kosov et al. 1976, Pourmorad et al. 2006, Kobeasy et al. 2011, Makhu-dov et al. 2011], luteolin, baicalein and baicalin, which affect the stimulation of mononuclear cells of peripheral blood, as well as apigenin and hispidulin, which have a protective action. Plantain has expectorant, anti-infl ammatory, protec-tive, diuretic and astringent effects. It is


Yield and quality of plantain (Plantago major L.) herb in the second year of cultivationWIESŁAWA ROSŁON*, ŁUKASZ GONTAR, OLGA KOSAKOWSKA, EWA OSIŃSKADepartment of Vegetable and Medicinal Plants, Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW


22 W. Rosłon et al.

used internally for treatment of the gas-trointestinal tract, diarrhea, and the up-per respiratory tract, and externally for stomatitis, burns, wounds, pimples and boils (it has shielding properties and ac-celerates the healing process) [Ringbom et al. 1998, Noor et al. 2000, Samuelsen 2000]. Nowadays plantain is a species of less importance than ribwort plantain (in Poland both species provide equivalent raw material). Nevertheless, it is still an important medicinal plant and subject of research, especially in relation to its pharmacological activity. Research car-ried out around the world has revealed a number of new properties of this spe-cies. In studies on mice, for example, it was found to have a prophylactic effect against breast cancer [Samuelsen 2000]. Noor et al. [2000] found a positive effect of plantain extracts on fertility in men. It has also been shown that the terpenoids present in plantain inhibit the growth of tumors, as well as having hepatoprotec-tive and hypolipernic properties [Ring-bom et al. 1998].

Observations at natural sites show numbers of populations to be decreas-ing, largely due to human activity. For this reason an increasing number of wild species are being introduced into cultivation. Plantain is one of those spe-cies. Research relating to its cultivation has been carried out for several years. Plantain is a perennial plant, and so its cultivation can be carried out on a multi-annual basis. Control of the process of growth and development of plants under cultivation means that the raw material obtained is controlled in terms of both morphological and chemical traits, and

therefore meets the requirements of the pharmaceutical industry.

In the present study the effect of cer-tain agronomic factors on the yield and quality of plantain herb harvested from a two-year-old plantation was evaluated.


Experiment location

The experiment was carried out at the experimental fi eld of the Department of Vegetable and Medicinal Plants of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW. The study involved three pop-ulations of plantain (Plantago major L.) originating from natural sites in Poland (P1 – Mazowsze province, Elsnerów, N 52°16.766′ E 21°04.980′; P2 – Lub-lin province, Krzywda, N 51°50.156′E 22°07.232′; P3 – Podlasie province, Antonowo, N 52°44.736′ E 21°57.280′).

Experiment procedure

Seeds for the establishment of a planta-tion were collected from the above sites in autumn 2011. Until sowing the seeds were stored in airtight seals in a cool, dark room. In 2012 and 2013 the seeds were sown at two times: spring (last 10 days of April) and late spring (fi rst 10 days of June). The sowing rate was 3 kg·ha–1, and the row distance was 30 cm. The individ-ual plot area was 5 m2. The experiment was established in a randomized block design in three replications.

Cultivation was continued for two years. In both years a dose of mineral fertilizers was applied per 1 ha: 30 kg N, 20 kg P and 40 kg K. Nitrogen fertilizers

Yield and quality of plantain (Plantago major L.)... 23

were applied in early spring, and phos-phorus and potassium fertilizers in the autumn, of the year preceding the ex-periment, and in the second year in early spring. In the fi rst year only, nurturing work was carried out.

The raw material (above-ground parts of the plants) was harvested in 2013 (for the plantation established in 2012) and in 2014 (for the plantation established in 2013). Each plot was divided into two parts. From one part of the plot the raw material was collected at the vegetative stage of plant development (last 10 days of April), while on the other it was col-lected when the plants were at the stage of full blooming (last 10 days of May). Both parts of plot regrowth were also har-vested (plants at harvesting were in the vegetative stage – fi rst 10 days of July). The yield of air-dry above-ground organs was determined. The plant material was dried in a drying chamber at 45°C.

Chemical analyses

In the air-dry raw material, the content of mucilages was determined accord-ing to Klimek [1991], and the contents of iridoid glycosides, phenolic acids and fl avonoids were determined according to the methods described in the Polish Pharmacopoeia (Farmakopea Polska VIII 2008). All analyses were made in three replications.

Determination of mucilage content

The air-dry raw material (1 g) was ex-tracted with 20 ml of distilled water for 1 h in a laboratory shaker (WU-4 type,

Premed). The extract was concentrated to 10 ml and fi ltered. Then 40 ml of 1% acetic acid in ethanol was added, and the sample was left for 6 h. The pre-cipitated mucilages were transferred to a weighed paper fi lter, washed with eth-anol and ethyl ether, dried, and weighed on an analytical balance (PS 2100/C/2 RADWAG).

Determination of iridoid glycoside content

The powdered plant material (0.5 g) was extracted under refl ux with 100 ml of distilled water and 0.3 g of calcium carbonate for 30 min. After cooling, the crude extract was fi ltered through 1.2 g of aluminum oxide. The content of iri-doid glycosides, calculated as aucubin, was determined by measuring the ab-sorbance of the color reaction product of these compounds with 1% solution of 4-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde in etha-nol and concentrated hydrochloric acid. The absorbance was measured at 590 nm. The reference sample was a water solu-tion of aucubin (0.015 g·ml–1) with the above-mentioned reagents added.

Determination of phenolic acid content

The air-dry raw material (1g) was ex-tracted twice with 25 ml of distilled wa-ter for 30 min. The combined extracts were supplemented with distilled water to 50 ml. The absorbance of a solution containing 1 ml of this extract, 1 ml of NaOH (40 g·l–1), 1 ml of HCl (18 g·l–1), 1 ml of Arnov’s reagent and 6 ml of dis-


tilled water was measured at 490 nm. The phenolic acid content was calcu-lated for caffeic acid.

Determination of fl avonoid content

The raw material (1g) was extracted with 20 ml of acetone, 2 ml of 25% HCl (for hydrolysis of fl avonoid glycosides) and 1 ml of 0.5% methenamine under refl ux for 30 min. The extraction was repeated twice with 10 ml of acetone. The com-bined extracts were supplemented to 100 ml. Amount of 20 ml of this extract was exhaustively extracted with ethyl acetate by shaking. The content of fl a-vonoids, calculated for quercetin, was determined spectrophotometrically after the reaction with 2% AlCl3. The absorb-ance was measured at 425 nm.

Statistical evaluation of the results

The results were subjected to statistical evaluation using ANOVA 3 programs and Tukey’s test at the signifi cance level α = 0.05.

The statistical analysis showed no signifi cant differences between 2013 and 2014, hence the results presented are the mean values from the two-year experiment.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Plantain (Plantago major L.) is a popu-lar medicinal plant, naturally occurring in the temperate climatic zone. Accord-ing to Wysocki and Sikorski [2002], in Poland this species can be found on farmland and in places that are heavily trampled and rich in nutrients. Due to

the wide possibilities of using plantain herb, interest in the species is increas-ing. Research relating to its introduction into cultivation is also being conducted. In this study the effect of the time of es-tablishment of the plantation and time of harvesting on the yield and quality of plantain herb was investigated. The study involved three populations of plantain (Plantago major L.) in the sec-ond year of cultivation.

Because research on the introduction of plantain into cultivation has been car-ried out only for a few years, there is still an absence in the available literature of information about the cultivation of that species. More information can be found about another plant of the genus Plan-tago – ribwort plantain (P. lanceolata) [Volák and Stodola 1983, Kołodziej 2006]. Assessment of yields of ribwort plantain has shown that between 0.8 and 2 t of leaves can be collected from 1 ha. Results obtained in this work for plan-tain are similar, especially in the case of material collected in the third and fourth harvesting stages (regrowth). For example, for the third harvesting stage the air-dry mass of herb was 170.7 g·m–2 (i.e. 1.7 t·ha–1). The air-dry mass of raw material depended on experimental fac-tors. Higher air-dry mass was obtained from a plantation established in late spring (average 109.9·m–2) compared with that established in mid spring (av-erage 90.7 g·m–2), and from the second harvest (plants in the fl owering stage – average 69 g·m–2) compared with the fi rst harvest (plants in the vegetative phase – average 48.6 g·m–2) – Table 1. The re-sults confi rm the observations of other


authors regarding the yields of other me-dicinal plants. Jadczak [2007] and Jad-czak and Grzeszczuk [2008] report that a higher yield of herb is usually obtained at a later sowing, as well as at later col-lection of the raw material. Different re-sults in studies of ribwort plantain were reported by Kołodziej [2006], who ob-tained a higher yield of herb when plants were collected in the vegetative phase. Cultivation of plantain may be contin-ued for two or more years. In the sec-ond and subsequent years the herb may be collected twice or three times dur-ing the growing season. In the reported experiment, in both years material was collected only twice, because from the end of July the plants were strongly at-tacked by powdery mildew. The mass of the regrowth (third and fourth stage of

harvesting) was clearly higher than the mass of herb collected in the fi rst and second stages. For plots where the fi rst harvest was made when the plants were in the vegetative phase (fi rst stage), air-dry mass was three times lower than the mass of herb collected at the third stage, and when the plants were collected for the fi rst time in the fl owering phase (sec-ond stage) the mass of regrowth (fourth stage) was about 1.5 times higher. The total mass of herb (sum for harvest I + + III and harvest II + IV) ranged from + 161.5 to 216.0 g·m–2. Population P3 gave the highest air-dry mass of herb (average 214.3 g·m–2); a lower (but sta-tistically insignifi cantly) mass was ob-tained for population P2; and a signifi -cantly lower mass of herb was obtained for population P1 (176.0 g·m–2) – Table 2.

TABLE 1. Mass of air-dry herb (g·m–2)

Specifi cation Time of sowing First harvest Second

harvestThird

harvestFourth harvest

Mean for population

P1

spring 45.0 66.0 187.0 88.0 96.4late spring 17.7 60.7 126.0 113.0 79.4

mean× 31.3 63.3 156.0 101.0 87.9

P2


mean× 65.2 62.7 193.0 99.0 105.0

P3


mean× 49.2 81.0 163.0 156.0 107.0

Mean for time of harvest 48.6 69.0 170.7 111.7 –Mean for spring sowing – – 90.7 – –Mean for late spring sowing – – 109.0 – –

P1 – population at Elsnerów, P2 – population at Krzywda, P3 – population at Antonowo; A – popula-tion, B – time of sowing, C – time of harvest; NIR0.05A = 3.19; NIR0.05B = 2.17; NIR0.05C = 4.06; NIR0.05A/B = 4.42; NIR0.05B/A = 3.76; NIR0.05B/C = 4.34; NIR0.05C/B = 5.75; NIR0.05A/C = 6.39; NIR0.05C/A = 7.04; NIR0.05 A/BC = 9.04; NIR0.05 B/A C= 7.51; NIR0.05C/AB = 9.95.


Studies of the chemical composition of the plantain herb show that these parts of the plant contain many groups of ac-tive compounds. The most important are mucilages and phenolic compounds (iri-doid glycosides, polyphenolic acids, fl a-vonoids etc.). Both polysaccharides and polyphenols have been suggested to act as bioactive compounds in this species. Mucilages are the most commonly avail-able plant ingredients with a wide range of applications in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Literature data suggest that in the case of plantain, mu-cilages occur primarily in the seeds (up to 13%) [Andrzejewska-Golec 2010], but are also present in the herb. In the literature there is no information about the content of these compounds in the aforementioned raw materials, although the qualitative composition of this frac-tion of polysaccharides is well known [Gorin 1965]. The results obtained in this study show that the content of mu-cilages ranges from 3,630 (3.63%) to 9,690 mg·100 g–1 (9.69%), and depends on many factors, including the culti-

vated population and agronomic factors such as time of sowing and time of har-vest. The highest content of mucilages was recorded in the herb from popula-tion P3 (average 7185 mg·100 g–1), and the lowest in population P1 (average 6812.5 mg·100 g–1). Signifi cantly great-er quantities of mucilages were detected in the raw material from spring-sown plots compared with those sown in late spring, and in the herb collected at the fi rst harvesting stage compared with the third (regrowth from the fi rst harvest) and fourth (regrowth from the second harvest) – Table 3. Observations that the mucilage content in plants is modifi ed by many factors have been made by various authors. Kaewmanee et al. [2014], for example, reported great variation in the mucilage content of fl axseed between seven different populations. Similar ob-servations were made by Klimek [1991] in studies of six species of the genus Ver-bascum. The infl uence of agronomic fac-tors on the content of these compounds in the roots of marshmallow was studied by Andruszczyk and Wiśniewski [2006], who showed that this parameter is favo-rably affected by the establishment of the plantation from seedlings, compared with sowing and cultivation of the plant under cover of yarn.

Among the phenolic compounds in plantain, an important group is the iridoid glycosides. The presence of these com-pounds in the aerial parts of this species is confi rmed by numerous authors [Røn-steda et al. 2000, Taskova et al. 2002, Jurišić et al. 2004, Jurišić-Grubesic et al. 2005; Stanisavljevic et al. 2008]. Studies on iridoid glycoside content in the spe-

TABLE 2. Infl uence of fi rst cut on the total mass of air-dry herb (g·m–2)

Specifi ca-tion

First harvest +

+ regrowth

Second harvest +

+ regrowth

Mean for population

Popula-tion P1 188.0 c* 164.0 d 176.0 B

Popula-tion P2 258.0 a 161.5 d 209.8 A

Popula-tion P3 212.5 b 216.0 b 214.3 A

Mean for harvest 219.3 A 180.5 B –

* Means marked with the same letter do not differ signifi cantly at α = 0.05.Other symbols – see Table 1.


cies have shown that the most important compound of this group is aucubin; there-fore in this work the content of iridoid glycosides is expressed in terms of that compound. Andrzejewska-Golec [2010] reports that the content of iridoid glyco-sides in the leaves of plantain ranges from 0.3 to 2.5% (300 to 2,500 mg·100 g–1). In the raw material analyzed in the present study the content of iridoid glycosides ranged from 1,37 to 2,01 mg·100 g–1. The results are comparable to the content of iridoid glycosides in other species of the genus of Plantago. For P. lanceolata, for example, it amounts to 1,224 mg·100 g–1, for P. holosetum 1,452 mg·100 g–1, and for P. atrata 1,252 mg·100 g–1 [Janko-vic et al. 2012]. According to Samulsen [2000] and Andrzejewska-Golec [2010], iridoid glycoside content depends on the

plant’s stage of development. The great-est amount of these compounds (mainly aucubin) in the aerial parts of plantain is found in June and July (over 1.3%). A similar pattern was observed by Rosłon et al. [2014] in research on plantain cul-tivation in the fi rst year of vegetation. Results obtained in this work for biennial plants confi rm the observations of those authors. A distinctly greater quantity of iridoid glycosides was found in the raw material collected in June (third and fourth harvesting stage) compared with that col-lected in April and May (fi rst and second stage). The content of iridoid glycosides also signifi cantly depends on when the plantation was established. A higher content of these compounds was deter-mined in raw material harvested from plots established by late spring sowing

TABLE 3. Content of mucilages in air-dry herb (mg·100 g–1)

Specifi cation Time of sowing

Firstharvest

Second harvest

Thirdharvest

Fourth harvest

Mean for population

P1

spring 9 050.0 9 460.0 3 630.0 4 090.0 6 557.5late spring 8 660.0 8 650.0 4 950.0 6 010.0 7 067.5

mean× 8 855.0 9 055.0 4 290.0 5 050.0 6 812.5

P2


mean× 8 945.0 8 585.0 5 275.0 5 510.0 7 078.8

P3


mean× 8 430.0 8 265.0 7 380.0 6 580.0 7 663.8

Mean for time of harvest 8 743.3 8 635.0 5 648.3 5 713.3 7185.0Mean for spring sowing – – 7 529.8 – –Mean for late spring sowing – – 6 840.0 – –

P1 – population at Elsnerów, P2 – population at Krzywda, P3 – population at Antonowo; A – population, B – time of sowing, C – time of harvest; NIR0.05A = 422.81; NIR0.05B = 287.02; NIR0.05C = 537.90; NIR0.05A/B = 597.95; NIR0.05B/A = 497.13; NIR0.05B/C = 574.04; NIR0.05C/B = 760.70; NIR0.05A/C = 845.63; NIR0.05C/A = 931.67; NIR0.05 A/BC = 1195.80; NIR0.05 B/AC = 994.27; NIR0.05C/AB = 1317.58.


(1,725 mg·100 g–1) compared with those sown in mid spring (1,645 mg·100 g–1). The highest content of iridoid gly-cosides was found in population P1 (2,010 mg·100 g–1), in the case of raw material from plots established in the late spring and at the fourth stage of harvest-ing, while the lowest was also obtained from population P1, from spring-sown plots and for material harvested at the fi rst stage (1,440 mg·100 g–1) – Table 4. Another group of phenolic compounds present in the above-ground organs of plantain is phenolic acids. They are also very important compounds in most of the plants of the genus Plantago. Jankovic et al. [2012], in studies of seven species of Plantago, demonstrated that the content of phenolic acids in this genus is from1,670 (P. atrata) to 8,160 mg·100 g–1

(P. lanceolata). Pourmorad et al. [2006] in turn report that in the case of plantain the content of phenolic acids is about 600 mg·100 g–1. In the present study the results were two to three times higher. The content of these compounds was from 1,290 to 2,260 mg·100 g–1 and was comparable to the content of phe-nolic acids in P. atrata, P. coronopus and P. reniformis [Jankovic et al. 2012]. The content of phenolic acids also depended on experimental factors. Population P2 had the highest average content of phe-nolic acids, while the lowest was found in population P1, and in the herb har-vested from plots established in spring as opposed to late spring. As regards the time of harvesting, a distinctly greater quantity of phenolic acids was found in the raw material collected in the fl ow-

TABLE 4. Content of iridoid glycosides in air-dry herb (mg·100g–1)


First harvest

Second harvest

Thirdharvest

Fourth harvest

Mean for population

P1


mean× 1 455.0 1 625.0 1 685.0 1 935.0 1 675.0

P2


mean× 1 645.0 1 605.0 1 885.0 1 740.0 1 718.8

P3


mean× 1 445.0 1 600.0 1 810.0 1 790.0 1 661.3

Mean for harvest time 1 515.0 1 610.0 1 793.3 1 821.7 1 685.0Mean for spring sowing 1 645.0Mean for late spring sowing 1 725.0

P1 – population at Elsnerów, P2 – population at Krzywda, P3 – population at Antonowo; A – population, B – time of sowing, C – time of harvest; NIR0.05A = 12.91; NIR0.05B = 8.76; NIR0.05C = 16.42; NIR0.05A/B = 18.26; NIR0.05B/A == 15.18; NIR0.05B/C = 17.53; NIR0.05C/B = 23.23, NIR0.05A/C = 25.82; NIR0.05C/A = 28.45; NIR0.05 A/BC = 36.51; NIR0.05 B/AC = 30.36; NIR0.05C/AB = 40.29.


ering phase (second harvesting stage) compared with plants in the vegetative phase (fi rst stage). The lowest quantity of these compounds was found in the herb from the fourth harvesting stage (Table 5). Comparing the results with those obtained by Rosłon et al. [2014] for one-year-old plants, it was observed that the content of phenolic acids in two--year-old plants was several times high-er. Another group of polyphenols present in species of the genus Plantago, includ-ing plantain, is fl avonoids [Pourmorad et al. 2006, Andrzejewska-Golec 2010, Makhudov et al. 2011]. Jurišić-Grubesic et al. [2007] report that in the Plantago genus fl avonoid content depends on the species, ranging from 65 (P. holosteum subsp. holosteum) to 131 mg·100 g–1 (P. maritima). Pourmorad et al. [2006]

report that, in the case of plantain, the content of fl avonoids in the leaves is higher, at 2,500 mg·100 g–1, whereas according to Zubair et al. [2011] and Makhudov et al. [2011] it is about 641 mg·100 g–1. The results obtained in this study showed the content of fl a-vonoids to range from 350 to 530 mg··100 g–1. These results are lower than those reported by Paramount et al. [2006], but similar to those of Makhu-dov et al. [2011] and Zubair et al. [2011]. Experimental factors modifi ed the fl avo-noid content in the tested raw material. A distinctly higher content of these compounds was found in the herb from a plantation established in late spring than in plants sown in mid spring. In the case of late spring sowing, the content of fl avonoids was the highest for popu-

TABLE 5. Content of phenolic acids in air-dry herb (mg·100 g–1)


Firstharvest

Second harvest

Thirdharvest

Fourth harvest

Mean for population

P1


mean× 1 655.0 2 110.0 1 585.0 1 395.0 1 686.3

P2


mean× 1 685.0 2 230.0 1 785.0 1 845.0 1 886.3

P3


mean× 1 375.0 2 230.0 1 805.0 1 430.0 1 710.0

Mean for time of harvest 1 571.7 2 190.0 1 725.0 1 556.7 1 760.8Mean for spring sowing – – 1 797.5 – –Mean for late spring sowing – – 1 724.2 – –

P1 – population at Elsnerów, P2 – population at Krzywda, P3 – population at Antonowo; A – population, B – time of sowing, C – time of harvest; NIR0.05A = 8.84; NIR0.05B = 6.00; NIR0.05C = 11.25; NIR0.05A/B = 12.51; NIR0.05B/A = = 10.40; NIR0.05B/C = 12.01; NIR0.05C/B = 15.91; NIR0.05A/C = 17.68; NIR0.05C/A = 19.49; NIR0.05 A/BC = 25.01; NIR0.05 B/AC = 20.80; NIR0.05C/AB = 27.56.


lation P3, and the lowest for popula-tion P1 (respectively 522.5 and 450.0 mg·100 g–1). The time of harvesting does not signifi cantly affect this parameter, but the highest content of fl avonoids was recorded at the fi rst harvesting stage, and the lowest at the fourth stage (Table 6).

CONCLUSIONS

In this study the effect of the time of establishment of the plantation and the time of harvesting on the yield and qual-ity of plantain herb was investigated. The results indicate that the cultivation of plantain can be carried out on a multian-nual basis. In the second and subsequent years of cultivation, harvesting may be performed twice. A third harvest was not possible due to attack by powdery mil-dew. A higher mass of herb is obtained when the plantation is established in late

spring and when harvesting takes place during the fl owering stage, but given the opportunity to harvest the raw ma-terial twice during the season, a higher total mass of herb is obtained when the fi rst harvest takes place in the veg-etative phase. The time of plantation

establishment and time of harvesting affect the content of active compounds in the herb. The herb harvested from a plantation established in mid-spring has a higher content of mucilages and phenolic acids, but a lower content of iridoid glycosides and fl avonoids, than the material from the plantation sown in late spring.

The highest content of iridoid glyco-sides and phenolic acids was recorded for the herb harvested for the fi rst time at the fl owering stage. The herb collect-

TABLE 6. Content of fl avonoids in air-dry herb (mg·100 g–1)

Specifi cation Time of sowing Firstharvest

Second harvest

Thirdharvest

Fourth harvest

Mean for population

P1


mean× 495.0 425.0 445.0 375.0 435.0

P2


mean× 455.0 415.0 480.0 400.0 437.5

P3


mean× 475.0 515.0 485.0 505.0 495.0

Mean for time of harvest 475.0 451.7 470.0 426.7 455.8Mean for spring sowing – – 434.2 – –Mean for late spring sowing – – 477.5 – –

P1 – population at Elsnerów, P2 – population at Krzywda, P3 – population at Antonowo; A – population, B – time of sowing, C – time of harvest; NIR0.05A = 35.87; NIR0.05B = 24.35; NIR0.05A/C = 71.73; NIR0.05C/A = 79.03.


ed at the vegetative stage has the high-est content of fl avonoids and mucilages. When introducing wild plants to culti-vation, it is possible to select a popula-tion with optimal traits (yield, content of biologically active compounds). In this experiment the highest mass of herb was obtained from population P3, and the lowest from population P1. Population P3 had the highest content of mucilages and fl avonoids, but the lowest content of iridoid glycosides, although still within the limits laid down in Polish standards (the content of iridoids should be not less than 1.5%).

Acknowledgment

The research was fi nancially supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Edu-cation, Project 7204/B/P01/2011/40.

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Streszczenie: Plonowanie i jakość surowca babki większej (Plantago major L.) w drugim roku upra-wy. W pracy oceniono wpływ terminu zakłada-nia plantacji oraz zbioru surowca na jakość ziela babki większej w drugim roku uprawy. Nasiona do założenia plantacji zebrano w 2011 roku na natu-ralnych stanowiskach tego gatunku położonychw województwach mazowieckim, lubelskim i pod-laskim. Nasiona te wysiano w latach 2012 i 2013 wiosną (w kwietniu) i późną wiosną (w czerw-cu). Surowiec zebrano w latach 2013 i 2014, gdy rośliny znajdowały się w fazie wegetatywnej i w fazie kwitnienia. Określono powietrznie su-chą masę ziela z 1 m2 oraz zawartość śluzów, gli-kozydów irydoidowych, kwasów polifenolowych i fl awonoidów w powietrznie suchym surowcu. Wyraźnie większą masę ziela uzyskano z poletek, na których wysiano nasiona późną wiosną w po-równaniu z siewem wiosennym oraz z roślin ze-branych w fazie kwitnienia w porównaniu z rośli-nami zebranymi w fazie wegetatywnej. Większą zawartością glikozydów irydoidowych (głównej grupy związków czynnych) charakteryzował się surowiec zebrany z poletek założonych póź-ną wiosną. Ziele populacji z Podlasia zawierało wyraźnie więcej tych związków w porównaniu z populacjami z województw mazowieckiego i lu-belskiego.

Abstract: Sensory characteristics of two parsley (Petroselinum sativum ssp. crispum L.) cultivars depending on storage conditions. A study was made of the sensory quality (odour and fl avour) of two cultivars of leafy type parsley (Petroselinum sativum ssp. crispum L.) before and after storage. The experimental factors were: storage period (7 and 14 days), storage temperature (0°C and 10°C) and type of packaging (bunches placed in water and two types of modifi ed atmosphere packaging – retail- and bulk-type). Two pars-ley cultivars (‘Rialto’ and ‘Petra’) with differ-ent morphology were investigated. The plants were harvested in autumn (September). The sen-sory quality of the parsley leaves was evaluated with Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA). To describe the sensory quality, 26 attributes (13 for odour and 13 for fl avour) were selected by a panel of experts. The results of the experiment showed that the tested cultivars differed in sen-sory attributes depending on storage conditions. The lower storage temperature helped maintain the freshness of both cultivars. Leaves stored for 14 days had less intensive odour and fl avour. An increase in “foreign” odour and “earthy” fl avour intensity with prolonged storage was observed for both cultivars. More differences were recorded in relation to odour than fl avour descriptors.

Key words: leafy vegetables, modifi ed atmos-phere, packaging, odour, fl avour, Quantitative Descriptive Analysis

INTRODUCTION

Parsley (Petroselinum sativum ssp. crispum L.) is an important vegeta-ble plant and spice. Its fresh and dried leaves are commonly used in cooking. The characteristic aroma and taste of parsley leaves is mainly due to volatile compounds (located in the oil ducts), which are released during mechanical damage to the tissue (e.g. cutting, chew-ing). Due to the high respiration and transpiration rates, fresh parsley leaves have low storage ability. They can be stored at temperatures of 18–20°C, at 85–90% relative humidity (RH), for about 3 days. Parsley leaves keep well at 0°C if high humidity is applied. As with all leafy vegetables, the temperature of parsley leaves after harvesting must be lowered rapidly to reduce respiration and spoilage. It has been shown that storage at 0°C and 84% RH doubled the shelf life of parsley compared with storage at room temperature [Azeez and Parthasar-athy 2008]. Parsley is usually handled in small lots and shipped in mixed loads with other commodities. The period be-tween harvesting and reaching the fi nal consumer can last from a few days to


Sensory characteristics of two parsley (Petroselinum sativum ssp. crispum L.) cultivars depending on storage conditionsMONIKA SITAREK1, JADWIGA RADZANOWSKA1, JOLANTA WTULICH1, JAKUB DOBRZYŃSKI2, MAREK GAJEWSKI1

1Department of Vegetable and Medicinal Plants, Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW2Department of Microbial Biology, Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW


34 M. Sitarek et al.

more than a week. Consumer demand for quality and ease of use of vegetables is increasing. This creates a need to seek better postharvest treatment, including washing, packaging and ensuring ap-propriate conditions for storage, so that the product reaching the consumer is not only visually appealing and free of dis-eases, but also offers the appropriate fl a-vour and aroma. After harvesting, pars-ley is usually hydro- or vacuum-cooled, and top- or package-icing is applied be-fore shipment to maintain its crispness [Hunt Ashby 2008]. Moreover, in order to prevent moisture loss, yellowing and decay, Modifi ed Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) may be used. MAP reduces loss of moisture and decreases the respiration process because of selective permeabil-ity to gases. Natural respiration of veg-etables lowers the internal oxygen con-centration, which results in an increase in the carbon dioxide concentration. As the oxygen concentration declines, the vegetable’s respiration rate decreases until equilibrium is reached, at which point the rate of oxygen uptake and car-bon dioxide production by the produce in the bag equals the oxygen and carbon dioxide permeability of the bag. How-ever, under certain gas compositions, anaerobic respiration gives rise to ‘off fl avours’ [Aharoni et al. 1989, Tudela et al. 2013]. Storage period and tempera-ture also affect the sensory quality with variable intensity.

Several types of analyses are avail-able for sensory assessment of vegeta-ble products. In order to identify quality degradation due to storage, sensory de-scriptive analyses are used. These tech-

niques identify, describe and quantify the visual, tactile, auditory, olfactory and taste characteristics of the product. In the evaluation of the storage ability of vegetables it is impossible to main-tain an unchanged control, and so the descriptive technique is particularly useful. Quantitative Descriptive Analy-sis (QDA) characterizes the sensory quality of the product as a complex of many particular characteristics (traits), individually evaluated for their intensity. The examination involves obtaining rep-resentative samples and providing them for initial assessment, then storing at specifi ed conditions, which are continu-ously controlled. At certain intervals, samples are re-evaluated and the results are compared. This allows the quantita-tive and qualitative characterization of potential changes occurring in a sample after storage [Murray et al. 2001].

The aim of the study was to inves-tigate the effect of temperature, storage period and packaging type on the sen-sory quality of leaves of two cultivars of leafy parsley, to fi nd the best method for storing the plant material.


The experiment was carried out during the 2014 vegetation season. Seeds of two leafy type parsley cultivars (‘Rialto’ and ‘Petra’) were sown in the experi-mental fi eld of the Department of Veg-etable and Medicinal Plants in Wilanów, Warsaw, in heavy alluvial soil in mid-March. The parsley cultivars differed in the morphology of their usable parts (‘Rialto’ with fl at lamina, and ‘Petra’ with triple curled lamina). Seeds were

Sensory characteristics of two parsley... 35

sown by hand on a fl at surface, with a spacing of 15 × 40 cm. Fertilizers were applied in standard doses, according to soil analysis results. During vegetation, manual weeding was performed several times, as well as constant watering. The research material was collected at the beginning of September, 50 days after the fi rst harvest, at the maturity optimal for the fresh market. Leaves were im-mediately transported to the laboratory, washed in cold tap water, air-dried and stored for 7 or 14 days, using three types of packaging: bunch (200 g ±10 g each) immersed in water, retail MAP packag-ing (200 g ±10 g each), and bulk MAP packaging (900 g ±10 g each). Samples were stored at temperatures of 0°C and 10°C, in a cold room with 80% RH.

Sensory evaluation was carried out at the laboratory of the Department of Vegetable and Medicinal Plants of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW equipped according to the ISO standard [PN-ISO-8589:1998]. Quantitative Descriptive Analysis was used for sensory quality analysis [PN--ISO-6564:1999]. A panel of 10 experts, previously trained according to the ISO standard [PN-ISO-8586-2:1996], car-ried out the analysis. The day before the evaluation, the experts received sam-ples of parsley leaves and individually generated a set of descriptors for odour and fl avour. Following discussion, 26 descriptors were chosen for the as-sessment (Tables 1 and 2). During the QDA evaluation, every assessor was given a set of randomized samples of the parsley leaves taken from each com-bination, in two independent sessions.

For odour evaluation, an equal part of chopped leaves was put into coded plas-tic boxes covered with lids. For fl avour evaluation, 6 g of chopped parsley was evenly mixed with 100 g of standardized potato puree and divided into small por-tions in coded Petri dishes. The evalua-tion was performed in separate booths, equipped with computers for data ac-quisition. The intensity of each attribute

TABLE 1. Defi nitions of odour attributes used in the quantitative descriptive analysisOdour attribute Defi nition

Total odour intensity

a complex of odours perceptible after the repeal of the lid

Spicy--irritant

odour giving irritating sensation after the repeal of the lid, the smell of terpene

Parsley leaves

characteristic odour of fresh, chopped parsley leaves

Celery characteristic smell of celeriac

Grassy odour of freshly mown grass and wet plants

Sour slightly sour smell typical of fer-mented products, e.g. yogurt

Seasoning (bouillon)

associated with lovage, aromatic broth

Herbal (bitter)

olfactory sensation felt while smelling herbs containing large amounts of tannins, alkaloids, “styptic” fragrance

Citrus refreshing, characteristic citrus odour

Sweet associated with sweet fruit odour

Earthyfresh ground odour associated with raw beetroot or unwashed potatoes

Sulphuric odour characteristic for brassica vegetables

Foreign atypical for parsley leaves


was determined on a non-structural graphical scale showing the anchoring points (described as “undetectable” and “very intensive”). Results were convert-ed into numerical values in a range of 0 to 10 units. Evaluation of fl avour after 14 days of storage at 10°C was not per-formed due to the poor quality of certain storage combinations. STATISTICA 12 software (Statsoft) was used for statisti-cal analysis of the results with ANOVA. Tukey’s HSD (Honestly Signifi cant Dif-ference) test at the signifi cance levelα = 0.05 for comparison of means was ap-

plied. Analysis was performed separate-ly for each cultivar. In order to compare storage variants (e.g. storage in bunches at 0°C for 7 days) one-way analysis of variance was used. To examine the effect of storage factors, three-way analysis of variance for odour and two-way analysis of variance for fl avour was performed. The effect of temperature on fl avour was determined on the basis of data obtained from 7-day storage. The effect of storage period on fl avour was determined using data obtained from storage at 0°C.


There is little literature data concern-ing the sensory quality of fresh parsley leaves. Research often concerns the sen-sory attributes of parsley after various drying and freezing processes [Duden 1984, Mangkoltriluk et al. 2005, Lech-tenberg et al. 2007].

Signifi cant differences in odour at-tributes for both parsley cultivars were observed. Leaves of the ‘Rialto’ culti-var stored in bunches at 0°C for 7 and 14 days had signifi cantly more sensi-ble “total odour intensity” and “parsley leaves odour”. In the case of “total odour intensity” they obtained scores of 6.72 and 6.73 respectively. In the case of “pars-ley leaves odour” they obtained scores of 5.93 and 6.34 respectively (Fig. 1a, c). The lowest scores for these descriptors were recorded for the leaves stored in retail MAP for 14 days at 10°C (“total odour intensity” 5.07, “parsley leaves odour” 3.62) (Fig. 2d). Other combi-nations for the ‘Rialto’ cultivar did not differ signifi cantly (6.26–5.19) in the

TABLE 2. Defi nitions of fl avour attributes used in the quantitative descriptive analysisFlavour attribute Defi nition

Parsley leavescharacteristic for fresh, chopped parsley leaves, ter-pene fl avour

Celery celeriac, parsley root fl avour

Pungent “styptic”

scratching (astringency) sensa-tion, such as when tasting a strong tart tea

Grassy the impression of tasting green parts of plants

Sour basic fl avour

Herbal--seasoning

the impression of tasting mixed herbs such as lovage, herbes de Provence, thyme, marjoram

Spicy-burning taste sensation felt in the mouth when trying a sample

Bitter basic fl avourSalty basic fl avourSweet basic fl avour

Saponaceous aroma/taste sensation associ-ated with unfl avoured soap, “bland” sample

Earthyaroma/taste sensation associ-ated with soil and tasting of unwashed root vegetables

Foreign atypical for parsley leaves

FIGURE 1. Odour attributes of ‘Rialto’ and ‘Petra’ cultivars before and after storage in bunches:• • • • before storage (‘Rialto’), – – – after storage (‘Rialto’), — before storage (‘Petra’), – – – after storage(‘Petra’)

FIGURE 2. Odour attributes of ‘Rialto’ and ‘Petra’ cultivars before and after storage in retail MAP:• • • • before storage (‘Rialto’), – – – after storage (‘Rialto’), — before storage (‘Petra’), – – – after storage(‘Petra’)


case of “total odour intensity” and were various in the case of “parsley leaves odour” (4.04–5.40) (Figs 1b, d, 2a–c, 3). Moreover, the temperature and storage period were factors which signifi cantly infl uenced the scores for “total odour intensity” and “parsley leaves odour” of ‘Rialto’ (Table 3). The intensity of these two odour attributes was the same for ‘Petra’ in all combinations (Figs 1–3). They were not signifi cantly affected by the storage time or temperature (Table 4). The change in the intensity of “season-ing (bouillon)”, “sulphuric”, “celery” and “herbal (bitter)” odours under dif-ferent storage conditions was a common feature of both cultivars. For ‘Rialto’, the intensity of “seasoning (bouillon)”

odour was signifi cantly higher at 0°C than at 10°C. The intensity of this at-tribute was lower in the case of a longer storage period, amounting to 2.52 units after 7 days of storage and 2.09 units after 14 days. Storage of ‘Petra’ in bulk MAP resulted in maintenance of the odour of “seasoning (bouillon)” close to the baseline, while storing in bunches proved to be the least effective method. The “seasoning (bouillon)” odour was maintained best for ‘Petra’ leaves stored in bulk MAP for 14 days at 10°C (4.12) (Fig. 3d), while other storage variants resulted in much lower scores – from 2.75 (bulk MAP packaging at 0°C for 7 days) to 1.59 (bunch at 0°C for 7 days) (Figs 1, 2, 3a–c).

FIGURE. 3. Odour attributes of ‘Rialto’ and ‘Petra’ cultivars before and after storage in bulk MAP:• • • • before storage (‘Rialto’), – – – after storage (‘Rialto’), — before storage (‘Petra’), – – – after storage(‘Petra’)


The best storage condition variants for samples of ‘Petra’ as regards “sea-soning (bouillon)” aroma were the worst for ‘Rialto’. This phenomenon may be due to cultivar differences. Differences between parsley cultivars were reported by Urlich et al. [2011], who investigated sixteen different genotypes of parsley, including two cultivars, six populations and eight inbred lines, regarding their sensory characteristics in relation to volatile patterns and resistance to Septo-ria petroselini. They found that more re-sistant genotypes were characterized by such sensory traits as “bitter”, “grassy”, “herbaceous”, “pungent”, “chemical”, and “harsh” tastes. The odour profi le of both tested cultivars before storage

differed. ‘Rialto’ was characterized by more intensive “total odour intensity”, as well as odour of “parsley leaves” and “citrus”. ‘Petra’ was described as more “earthy” than ‘Rialto’ shortly after har-vesting. The infl uence of storage fac-tors on individual sensory traits of pars-ley should be further examined, since the effects of storage may be modifi ed due to the interaction of such factors as temperature, storage period and type of packaging. The effect of the interaction of all experimental factors was signifi -cant in the case of ‘Petra’ for “seasoning (bouillon)”, “parsley leaves” and “cel-ery” odours (Table 4). For ‘Rialto’ such relationships did not occur (Table 3).

TABLE 3. The infl uence of experimental factors on odour attributes of ‘Rialto’

Odour attribute

Experimental factor

type of packaging

storage time

storage tempera-

ture

type of packaging

×storage

time

type of packag-

ing×

storage tempera-

ture

storage time

× storage

tempera-ture

type of packaging

×storage

time×

storage temperature

Total odour intensity ns ** *** ns * * ns

Spicy-irritant ns ns ns ns * nsParsley leaves ns ** *** ns * ** nsCelery ns * * ns * ns nsGrassy ns ns ns ns ns ns nsSour ns ns ns ns * nsSeasoning (bouillon) ns ** *** ns ns ns ns

Herbal (bitter) ns * ns ns ns ns nsCitrus ns ns ns ns ns ns nsSweet * ns ns ns ns ns nsEarthy ns ns ns ns ns ns nsSulphuric ns ** ns ns ns ns nsForeign *** *** ns *** ns ns ns

Note: ns – not signifi cant, * 0.1 ≥ p > 0.05, ** 0.05 ≥ p > 0.01 ***, 0.01 ≥ p > 0.000.


Higher temperature and extended storage period infl uenced negatively the “celery” odour of ‘Rialto’ leaves. ‘Petra’ leaves stored in bulk MAP at 10°C for 14 days were assessed as the best (4.12) (Fig. 3d). Other objects obtained scores ranging from 3.5 to 2.5 in this category.

The intensity of odour referred to as “sulphuric” increased with the length of storage time for both cultivars. The in-tensity for ‘Rialto’ increased from 0.47 after 7 days of storage to a score of 0.78 after 14 days. Similarly, the scores for ‘Petra’ increased from 0.062 to 1.070.

The appearance of a “foreign” odour (“off odour”) was identifi ed for both cultivars. ‘Rialto’ leaves stored in retail MAP showed the highest intensity of this

smell (0.52) compared with the other objects. For both cultivars an increase in “foreign” odour intensity was observed with prolonged storage duration. More-over, it was signifi cantly higher as a result of interaction of the time factor (14 days) with the type of packaging (‘Rialto’, retail MAP) and storage tem-perature (‘Petra’, 10°C). Despite the presence of a “foreign” odour for eight ‘Rialto’ storage variants, its value was at an insignifi cant level in the case of bunches stored at 10°C and for leaves stored in bulk MAP (0°C for 14 days and 10°C for 7 days) (Figs 1b, d, 3b, c). In another study a “fi sh-like” foreign odour was reported for stored frozen parsley [Duden and Hubner 1981].

TABLE 4. The infl uence of experimental factors on odour attributes of ‘Petra’

Odour attribute

Experimental factor

type of packaging

storage time

storage tempera-

ture

type of packaging

×storage

time

type of packag-

ing×

storage tempera-

ture

storage time

× storage

tempera-ture

type of packaging

×storage time

×storage

temperatureTotal odour intensity ns ns Ns ns * ns ns

Spicy-irritant ns * Ns ns ns * nsParsley leaves ns ns Ns ns ns ns *Celery ns ns Ns ns ns ns **Grassy ns ns ns ns ns ns nsSour ns * ns ns ns ns nsSeasoning (bouillon) *** ns ns ** ns *** ***

Herbal (bitter) ns *** *** ns ns ns nsCitrus ns ns ns ns ns ns nsSweet ns ns ns ns ns ns nsEarthy ns *** ns ns ns ns nsSulphuric ns *** * ns * ns nsForeign ns *** * ns ns ** ns

Note: For explanation of symbols see Table 3.


For ‘Petra’, an increase in the in-tensity of “herbal (bitter)” odour was observed for extended storage period (from 1.54 to 1.96) and increased stor-age temperature (from 1.54 to 1.97). Leaves of this cultivar were also char-acterized by a signifi cantly more in-tense “earthy” odour after 14-day stor-age. Duden [1984] reported a decrease in “freshness” and “grassy” aromas, as well as the predominance of “hay-like” aroma due to a prolonged storage peri-od in an experiment where “curly” and “fl at” parsley leaves were stored from 0 to 8 months at different temperatures (from –50 to –12°C). The effect of freez-ing temperatures after 8 months’ storage on the “grassy” and “hay-like” attributes showed the “hay-like” scores to increase consistently with temperature, while the “grassy” attribute remained unchanged at

–18°C and below, with a reduction only at –12°C.

In our experiment, decreased stor-age temperature signifi cantly infl uenced the intensity of the “herbal-seasoning” fl avour for both cultivars (Tables 5, 6). Leaves of ‘Rialto’ kept at the lower temperature obtained an average score of 2.71 (Figs 4a, c, 5a, c, 6a, c), while those stored at 10°C scored 1.64 (Figs 4b, 5b, 6b). Similarly, ‘Petra’ leaves scored respectively 2.89 (Figs 4a, c, 5a, c, 6a, c) and 1.93 (Figs 4b, 5b, 6b). It is known that the decrease in “freshness” of parsley leaves correlates with the degradation of monoterpenes. Myrcene (“herbal”, “metallic”) and menthatriene (“parsley-like”) are two important com-pounds within this category which have been identifi ed as signifi cant in fresh parsley, based on their “fl avour dilution”

TABLE 5. The infl uence of experimental factors on fl avour attributes of ‘Rialto’

Flavour attribute

Experimental factor

type of packaging storage time storage

temperature

type of packaging

×storage time

type of packaging

×storage

temperatureParsley leaves ns ns ns ns nsCelery ns ns ns ns nsPungent “styptic” ns ns ns ns nsGrassy ns ns ns ns nsSour ns * ns ns nsHerbal-seasoning ns ns *** ns nsSpicy-burning ns ns * ns nsBitter ns ns ns ns nsSalty ns ns ns ns nsSweet ns ns ns ns nsSaponaceous ns ns ns ns nsEarthy ns ** ns ns nsForeign ns ns ns ns ns



factor using aroma extraction dilution analysis (AEDA) [Jung et al. 1992].

The intensity of “herbal-seasoning” fl avour was perceived differently de-pending on the storage combination of both cultivars. ‘Petra’ stored in a bunch for 7 days at 0°C obtained the highest scores (3.28), while stored in retail MAP for the same period at 10 °C it obtained the lowest scores (1.55) (Figs 4a, 5b). Other combinations received moderate evaluations (2.93–1.98) (Figs 4b–c; 5a, c, 6a–c). Moreover, the extended stor-age period infl uenced negatively the “herbal-seasoning”, “parsley leaves” and “celery” fl avours.

“Earthy” taste was detected to a great-er degree in ‘Rialto’ leaves stored for 14 days (1.3) compared with 7-day stor-age (0.78), as was “sour” taste in ‘Pet-ra’ leaves (1.72 for 14 days, 1.18 for

7 days). ‘Rialto’ was described as more “spicy-burning” when stored at 0°C.

For both cultivars, “foreign” fl avour was not found in all storage variants. Duden [1984] observed the occurrence of “foreign” fl avour in frozen parsley. The fl avour was described as “hay-like” and “grassy”. “Grassy” fl avour was found only in frozen unblanched leaves and “hay-like” fl avour was found in blanched and unblanched material.

Mangkoltriluk et al. [2005] found no fl avour differences in parsley leaves depending on the processing method. In their survey, 70% of assessors were not able to identify the odd sample cor-rectly out of samples of curled parsley leaves dried in two different conditions (samples were assessed using the trian-gle method – the odd coded sample is compared with two identical coded ref-

TABLE 6. The infl uence of experimental factors on fl avour attributes of ‘Petra’

Flavour attribute

Experimental factor

type of packaging storage time storage

temperature

type of packaging

×storage time

type of packaging

×storage

temperatureParsley leaves ns * ns ns nsCelery ns ** ns ns nsPungent “styptic” ns ns ns ns nsGrassy ns ns ns ns nsSour ns ns ** ns nsHerbal-seasoning ns * *** ns nsSpicy-burning ns ns ns ns nsBitter ns ns ns ns nsSalty ns ns ns ns nsSweet ns ns ns ns nsSaponaceous ns ns ns ns nsEarthy ns ns ns ns nsForeign ns ns ns ns ns



FIGURE 4. Flavour attributes of ‘Rialto’ and ‘Petra’ cultivars before and after storage in bunches:• • • • before storage (‘Rialto’), – – – after storage (‘Rialto’), — before storage (‘Petra’), – – – after storage (‘Petra’)

FIGURE 5. Flavour attributes of ‘Rialto’ and ‘Petra’ cultivars before and after storage in retail MAP:• • • • before storage (‘Rialto’), – – – after storage (‘Rialto’), — before storage (‘Petra’), – – – after storage (‘Petra’)


erence samples), although chemical dif-ferences in volatiles concentration were found in the samples. Lechtenberg et al. [2007] examined the sensory attributes of parsley leaves after different drying methods. They found that freeze-dried material had a more intense green colour and had more “fresh” aroma, whereas the oven-dried material gave the optical impression of a slightly greyish colour and had a non-intense sensory impact.

CONCLUSIONS

Lower initial intensity of “total odour” and “parsley leaves” odour of parsley results in smaller changes in the sensory traits of the plant material during stor-age, while more aromatic parsley leaves

may be more susceptible to loss of these sensory values.

Storage in retail MAP results in lower “total odour” intensity and “pars-ley leaves” odour intensity, whereas leaves stored in bunches can be kept up to 14 days at 0°C without large deg-radation of these attributes.

The intensity of “sulphuric” and “for-eign” odours increases during the storage period for both cultivars tested. Storage of more aromatic cultivars, such as ‘Rial-to’, in retail MAP conditions stimulates the occurrence of ‘foreign’ odour.

The intensity of “herbal-seasoning” fl avour decreases during the storage pe-riod, while “earthy” fl avour (‘Rialto’) and “sour” fl avour (‘Petra’) increase in intensity.

FIGURE 6. Flavour attributes of ‘Rialto’ and ‘Petra’ cultivars before and after storage in bulk MAP:• • • • before storage (‘Rialto’), – – – after storage (‘Rialto’), — before storage (‘Petra’), – – – after storage (‘Petra’)


Packaging type is important with re-gard to the possibility of occurrence of “foreign” odour. It can be stated that the storage of more aromatic cultivars in re-tail MAP for 14 days at 10°C cannot be applied for that reason.

REFERENCESAHARONI N., REUVENI A., DVIR O. (1989).

Modifi ed atmospheres in fi lm packages delay senescence and decay of fresh herbs. Acta Hortic. 258: 255–262.

AZEEZ S., PARTHASARATHY V.A. (2008). Parsley. In: Chemistry of Spices. V.A. Parthasarathy, B. Chempakam, T.J. Zachariah (Eds). CABI: 376–400.

DUDEN R. (1984). Sensory changes in parsley during freezing and frozen storage. Lebens-mitteltechnik 16 (4): 169–171.

DUDEN R., HUBNER G. (1981). Enzymatic oxidation reactions in deep frozen parsley. Zeitschrift fur Ernahrungswissenschaft 20 (4): 270–274.

HUNT ASHBY B. (2008). Individual Commod-ity Requirements. Fresh Fruits and Vegeta-bles. Parsley. In: Protecting Perishable Foods During Transport by Truck. United States De-partment of Agriculture: 46.

JUNG H., SEN A., GROSCH W. (1992). Evalua-tion of potent odorants in Parsley leaves [Pet-roselinum crispum (Mill.) Nym. ssp. crispum] by aroma extract dilution analysis. Lebensm. Wiss. Technol. 25: 55–60.

LECHTENBERG M., ZUMDICK S., GER-HARDS C., SCHMIDT T.J., HENSEL A. (2007). Evaluation of analytical markers char-acterising different drying methods of parsley leaves (Petroselinum crispum L.). Pharmazie 62: 949–954. doi: 10.1691/ph.2007.12.7543.

MANGKOLTRILUK W., SRZEDNICKI G., CRASKE J. (2005). Preservation of fl a-vour components in parsley (Petroselinum crispum) by heat pump and cabinet drying. Pol. J. Food Nutr. Sci. 14/55 (1): 63–66.

MURRAY J.M., DELAHUNTY C.M., BAXTER I.A. (2001). Descriptive sensory analysis:

Past, present and future. Food Res. Int. 34: 461–471.

PN-ISO-6564:1999. Sensory Analysis. Method-ology. Flavour profi ling method.

PN-ISO-8586-2:1996. Sensory analysis. General guidelines for selection, training and assessor monitoring. Experts.

PN-ISO-8589:1998. Sensory Analysis. General guidelines for designing sensory analysis lab.

TUDELA J.A., MARÍN A., GARRIDO Y., CANTWELL M., MEDINA-MARTÍNEZA M.S., GIL M.I. (2013). Off-odour develop-ment in modifi ed atmosphere packaged baby spinach is an unresolved problem. Posthar-vest Biol. Tec. 75: 75–85.

Streszczenie: Ocena sensoryczna liści dwóch od-mian pietruszki naciowej (Petroselinum sativum ssp. crispum L.) w zależności od warunków prze-chowywania. Badano jakość sensoryczną (smak i zapach) dwóch odmian pietruszki naciowej przed przechowywaniem i po przechowywaniu. Czynnikami doświadczenia były czas przechowy-wania (7 i 14 dni), temperatura przechowywania (0°C i 10°C) oraz typ opakowania (pęczki zanu-rzone ogonkami w wodzie, opakowania jednost-kowe i opakowania zbiorcze modyfi kujące atmos-ferę). Doświadczeniem objęto odmiany ‘Rialto’ i ‘Petra’ o zróżnicowanej morfologii. Zbiór roślin przeprowadzono w terminie jesiennym (wrze-sień). Jakość sensoryczną liści pietruszki nacio-wej oceniano metodą ilościowej analizy opisowej (QDA). Do opisania sensorycznych cech jako-ściowych zastosowano łącznie 26 wyróżników (13 dla zapachu i 13 dla smaku) wytypowanych przez zespół ekspertów. Wyniki doświadczenia wykazały, że badane odmiany różniły się pod względem badanych wyróżników sensorycznych w zależności od warunków przechowywania. Obniżona temperatura przechowywania sprzyjała zachowaniu świeżości naci obu odmian. Liście przechowywane przez okres 14 dni charakteryzo-wały się mniejszym nasileniem aromatu i smaku. Wraz z wydłużeniem okresu przechowywania odnotowano zwiększone odczuwanie zapachu „obcego” i smaku „ziemistego”. Więcej różnic zaobserwowano dla wyróżników zapachu naci.

Abstract: Fruit characteristics of Actinidia culti-vars obtained at the M. Grishko National Botani-cal Garden of the Ukrainian NAS in Kyiv. This paper summarizes the results of introduction and selection of Actinidia arguta (Siebold et Zucc.) Planch. ex Miq and its hybrids at the M. Grishko National Botanical Garden of the National Acad-emy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kyiv. The main goal of the breeding program was to improve fruit quality, plant productivity, and winter hardiness. Pomological and biochemical analysis of the fruit of new cultivars was conducted in the years 2013–2015. The fruits of the best cultivars accu-mulated large amounts of vitamin C, sugars, or-ganic acids and carotenoids, and have a high level of dry soluble substances. The yields of the culti-vars described here were between 9 and 35 kg per plant. The tested cultivars were divided into four groups according to fruit maturation time. The best cultivars expressed good fruit characteristics and yield, and hence can be successfully culti-vated on commercial plantations and in private gardens. They are also a good material for further breeding programs.

Key words: kiwiberry, selection, introduction, vi-tamin C, carotenoids, yield

INTRODUCTION

Expanding the range of fruit and orna-mental plants through new types and forms is essential for the cultural enrich-

ment of phytocenoses. The continuing deterioration of the environment makes it necessary to fi nd and mobilize plants with increased resistance and vitality, which include woody vines of the genus Actinidia Lindl. According to the latest revision the Actinidia genus includes 75 taxa [Ferguson and Huang 2007] and covers a closed area in Asia (China, Ja-pan, Nepal, Sakhalin island, far eastern Russia). The vast majority of species of Actinidia are decorative vines, but some of them are very important fruit plants. These include primarily Actinidia delici-osa (A.Chev.) C.F. Liang et A.R. Fergu-son, which currently provides one of the most valuable fruit exports (“kiwifruit”). In regions with temperate climates and cold winter the main attention is focused on frost-resistant actinidia species char-acterized by high adaptive possibility and productivity – A. kolomikta (Rupr. et Maxim.) Maxim., A. arguta (Siebold et Zucc.) Planch. ex Miq. Lately A. arguta (called hardy kiwifruit or kiwiberry) has come to be seen as a promising com-mercial culture in many countries, in-cluding New Zealand, the USA, Japan, Poland, Belgium, Germany and others


Fruit characteristics of Actinidia cultivars obtained at the M. Grishko National Botanical Garden of the Ukrainian NAS in KyivNADIIA SKRYPCHENKO*Department of Fruit Plants AcclimatizationM. Grishko National Botanical Garden of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine


48 N. Skrypchenko

[Latocha 2010]. Unfortunately, there are no commercial plantations of A. arguta in Ukraine, but many promising varie-ties of Actinidia for commercial cultiva-tion have been selected.

In Ukraine, the investigation of cold-resistant species of Actinidia was initi-ated by academician M. Kaschenko in 1914, and systematic research concern-ing the formation of a collection of Ac-tinidia for further selection work was started at the M. Grishko National Bo-tanical Garden (NBG) of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in 1958. Today, that institution has the larg-est collection of actinidia in Ukraine, which is constantly replenished by ex-change with various botanical institu-tions and through breeding work, which is aimed at creating high-performance varieties adapted to the conditions of the Ukrainian forest steppe. The collection comprises 6 species and over 300 differ-ent taxa of actinidia. It includes A. ar-guta, A. kolomikta, A. arguta var. purpu-rea (Rehder) C.F. Liang ex Q.Q. Chang, A. polygama (Siebold et Zucc.) Maxim., A. deliciosa, A. macrosperma C.F. Liang and A. callosa Lindl. The 15 cultivars of “hardy” actinidia appear in the Register of Plant Cultivars of Ukraine. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine some external and internal fruit quality traits of new Actinidia cultivars obtained at M. Grishko NBG.


National Botanical Garden (NBG) is lo-cated in the southern part of Kyiv, on the Kyiv Elevation, and its area is geomor-phologically associated with the large

Dnieper Elevation. The main type of soil is dark gray ash. The soil surface is very blurred and has low humus content. The climate of the area in which Kyiv is lo-cated is moderately continental with av-erage annual temperature 9.4°C. Studies were conducted in the years 2013–2015. Analysis was performed on 15-years-old plants. As material for pomological in-vestigation, actinidia fruit in the state of consumer maturity were chosen (based on fruit softness). The weight, length and width of the fruit were measured on 100 randomly chosen fruits of each cultivar. The mass fraction of dry solu-ble substances was determined by a re-fractometric method [GOST 28562-90, 1990]; acidity in terms of citric acid was determined by titration with 0.1M NaOH [GOST 23555.0-82, 1984]; ascorbic acid content by an iodometric method [Pleshkov 1976]; total sugars by the fer-ricyanide method [GOST 8756.13-87, 1988]; and total carotenoids spectropho-tometrically [GOST 8756.22-80, 1981]. The chemical analyses were performed each year on 50 randomly chosen fruits of each cultivar.


The introduction of actinidia at NBG was initiated by sowing free pollination seeds, obtained from the botanical gardens of Beijing (China), Lviv (Ukraine), Batumi (Georgia) and Michurinsk (Russia). As a result of selection of the most promis-ing forms, new frost-resistant cultivars of actinidia named ‘Sentiabrskaya’ and ‘Purpurnaya Sadovaya’ were obtained. Next, they were used in a breeding pro-

Fruit characteristics of Actinidia cultivars... 49

gram to obtain new cultivars, which are characterized by stable annual crop, di-verse biochemical fruit properties and frost resistance. For this purpose the hybridization of A. arguta and A. arguta var. purpurea was conducted, and then among the hybrid material the cultivars ‘Figurnaya’, ‘Kievskaya Krupnoplod-naya’ and ‘Kievskaya Gibridnaya’ were selected [Shajtan et al. 1983]. Due to this stage of the selection process, high-ly winter-hardy cultivars with high fruit quality, i.e. ‘Nadiya’, ‘Originalnaya’, ‘Lasunka’, ‘Perlyna Sadu’, ‘Krasunia’, ‘Smaragdova’ and ‘Juvileyna’, were released. The following fruit selection criteria were used: fruit size and taste, time of maturation, and yield. Finally, 15 cultivars of A. arguta were obtained and offi cially registered [Klimenko and Skrypchenko 2013]. For the pollination of all Ukrainian cultivars of A. arguta the pollinator cultivar ‘Don-Juan’ was selected. ‘Don-Juan’ is characterized by a long fl owering period and high level of pollen fertility.

The average fruit weight depended on cultivar and ranged from 5.55 to 18.5 g (Table 1). Fruit weight remained at a similar level in successive harvest years. The fruit differ in shape and color (Fig. 1). The ‘Kievskaya Krup-noplodnaya’, ‘Originalnaya’, ‘Nadiya’, ‘Zagadkova’, ‘Juvileyna’ and ‘Sma-ragdova’ cultivars produced the largest fruits. The average kiwiberry yield per plant ranged from 9 to 35 kg. The culti-vars with the highest yields were ‘Pur-purnaya Sadovaya’, ‘Kievskaya Krup-noplodnaya’, ‘Zagadkova’ and ‘Rima’. Depending on the fruit ripening time, the

cultivars were divided into (a) very early ripening – ‘Perlyna Sadu’ (fruits ripen in late August); (b) early ripening – ‘Fig-urnaya’ and ‘Lasunka’ (fruits ripen in early September); (c) medium ripening – ‘Kievskaya Krupnoplodnaya’, ‘Sen-tiabrskaya’, ‘Kievskaya Gibridnaya’, ‘Originalnaya’, ‘Zagadkova’, ‘Rima’, ‘Originalnaya’ and ‘Rubinovaya’ (in the Ukrainian forest steppe fruit ripen-ing lasts from September 15 to 25); and (d) the latest cultivars – ‘Purpurnaya Sadovaya’ and ‘Karavaievskaya Uro-zhainaya’ (fruits ripen from late Septem-ber to early October).

The fruit chemical composition was mostly determined by the cultivar. How-ever, differences between successive years indicate that fruit internal quality could also be affected by weather and soil conditions, as well as fruit ripeness at harvesting. Titratable acidity and sugar content of the analyzed fruit are shown in Table 2, and dry matter, vitamin C and carotenoid contents are presented in Fig-ures 2–4. Large variations in the studied parameters were recorded. Depending on cultivar, dry matter (DM) content varied from 13.7 to 17.5%. The highest DM val-ues were obtained for ‘Lasunka’, ‘Fig-urnaya’ and ‘Perlyna Sadu’. The titrat-able acidity ranged from 0.37 to 0.76%; ‘Krasunia’ and ‘Figurnaya’ had the low-est acidity and ‘Kievskaya Gibridnaya’ and ‘Karavaievskaya Urozhainaya’ the highest. The sugar content varied be-tween 4.27% (‘Zagadkova’) and 11.97% (‘Purpurna Sadova’). The highest vita-min C content, above 100 mg·100 g–1 FW, was recorded for ‘Kievskaya Gi-bridnaya’ and ‘Originalnaya’. For the

TAB

LE 1

. Mor

phol

ogic

al c

hara

cter

istic

s of A

ctin

idia

cul

tivar

s fro

m N

BG

sele

ctio

n in

succ

essi

ve y

ears

of t

he st

udy.

The

val

ues a

re m

eans

(±SD

, n =

100

)

Cul

tivar

(par

ents

)Fr

uit w

eigh

t (g)

Frui

t len

gth

(cm

)Fr

uit w

idth

(cm

)Av

erag

e yi

eld

(kg·

plan

t–1)

2013

2014

2015

2013

2014

2015

2013

2014

2015

‘Pur

purn

aya

Sado

vaya

’(А

. arg

uta

var.

purp

urea

)11

.31

±1.5

410

.63

±0.9

611

.66

±1.4

33.

47 ±

0.15

3.75

±0.

273.

29 ±

0.14

2.27

±0.

142.

22 ±

0.12

2.32

±0.

0920

–35

‘Sen

tiabr

skay

a’ (A

. arg

uta)

9.02

±0.

998.

84 ±

0.91

10.3

4 ±1

.78

2.88

±0.

092.

93 ±

0.12

2.38

±0.

112.

45 ±

0.12

2.24

±0.

092.

57 ±

0.15

9–12

‘Kra

suni

a’(A

. arg

uta)

12.9

5 ±1

.03

13.0

4 ±0

.85

13.3

1 ±1

.22

2.62

±0.

122.

51 ±

0.13

2.58

±0.

183.

21 ±

0.18

2.84

±0.

142.

77 ±

0.15

9–12

‘Kie

vska

ya G

ibrid

naya

’ (А.

arg

uta

××

A. a

rgut

a va

r. pu

rpur

ea)

9.75

±1.

329.

05 ±

1.17

10.6

1 ±1

.84

2.77

±0.

182.

80 ±

0.25

2.92

±0.

192.

48 ±

0.11

2.39

±0.

162.

45 ±

0.18

10–1

8

‘Kie

vska

ya K

rupn

oplo

dnay

a’(А

. arg

uta

× A.

arg

uta

var.

purp

urea

’)16

.65

±2.0

317

.95

±1.0

118

.50

±2.4

23.

48 ±

0.10

3.71

±0.

123.

37 ±

0.19

3.12

±0.

233.

07 ±

0.13

2.87

±0.

1420

–25

‘Fig

urna

ya’ (А.

arg

uta

× ×

A. a

rgut

a va

r. pu

rpur

ea)

7.84

±1.

196.

95 ±

0.82

8.61

±1.

442.

55 ±

0.10

2.35

±0.

122.

9 ±0

.15

2.15

±0.

192.

31 ±

0.13

2.08

±0.

2015

–20

‘Rim

a’ (‘

Sent

iabr

skay

a’ ×

× A.

arg

uta

var.

purp

urea

)6.

87 ±

0.54

7.21

±0.

846.

83 ±

1.51

2.59

±0.

142.

60 ±

0.20

2.61

±0.

152.

11 ±

0.09

2.12

±0.

062.

13 ±

0.06

15–2

0

‘Zag

adko

va’ (

‘Sen

tiabr

skay

a’ ×

× A.

arg

uta

var.

purp

urea

)10

.72

±1.2

112

.04

±1.1

19.

34 ±

1.58

2.71

±0.

142.

53 ±

0.09

2.86

±0.

232.

61 ±

0.16

2.74

±1.

852.

60 ±

0.14

15–2

0

‘Orig

inal

naya

’ (‘S

entia

brsk

aya’

× ×

A. a

rgut

a va

r. pu

rpur

ea)

10.3

4 ±2

.41

10.1

1 ±1

.46

10.4

5 ±1

.95

3.26

±0.

293.

33 ±

0.20

3.01

±0.

192.

20 ±

0.23

2.34

±0.

152.

24 ±

0.17

15–2

0

‘Las

unka

’ (‘S

entia

brsk

aya’

×

× A.

arg

uta

var.

purp

urea

)8.

73 ±

0.86

8.05

±0.

959.

32 ±

1.32

3.19

±0.

143.

29 ±

0.11

2.29

±20

.12.

08 ±

0.12

2.15

±0.

092.

22 ±

0.14

10–1

1

‘Kar

avai

evsk

aya

Uro

zhai

naya

’ (‘

Purp

urna

ya S

adov

aya’

×

× A.

arg

uta)

5.55

±0.

846.

12 ±

0.86

6.63

±1.

092.

54 ±

0.09

2.64

±0.

142.

32 ±

0.13

1.82

±0.

181.

75 ±

0.14

1.86

±0.

1210

–12

‘Nad

iya’

(‘Pu

rpur

naya

Sad

ovay

a’×

× A.

arg

uta)

9.48

±1.

7710

.05

±1.6

68.

97 ±

1.37

3.44

±0.

253.

58 ±

0.21

3.18

±0.

142.

19 ±

0.18

2.25

±0.

172.

17 ±

0.14

15–2

0

‘Rub

inov

aya’

(‘Pu

rpur

naya

Sad

o-va

ya’×

A. a

rgut

a)6.

43 ±

0.73

7.01

±0.

976.

06 ±

1.03

2.99

±0.

142.

85 ±

0.10

3.16

±0.

151.

89 ±

0.11

1.74

±0.

151.

95 ±

0.13

10–1

3

‘Per

lyna

Sad

u’(‘

Purp

urna

ya S

ado-

vaya

’× A

. arg

uta)

6.45

±0.

868.

74 ±

0.63

8.21

±1.

112.

54 ±

0.10

2.43

±0.

082.

53 ±

0.15

2.16

±0.

112.

44 ±

0.09

2.12

±0.

1312

–15

‘Juv

ileyn

a’(‘

Kie

vska

ya K

rupn

oplo

d-na

ya’×

‘Pur

purn

aya

Sado

vaya

’×

× A.

arg

uta)

14.5

2 ±2

.04

13.2

5 ±0

.58

14.8

3 ±2

.13

3.63

±0.

213.

47 ±

0.08

3.73

±0.

152.

61 ±

0.14

2.33

±0.

062.

56 ±

0.11

12–1

5

‘Sm

arag

dova

’(‘S

entia

brsk

aya’

××

‘Don

-Jua

n’)

11.5

2 ±1

.63

9.78

±1.

0710

.20

±1.8

43.

28 ±

0.14

3.40

±0.

262.

92 ±

0.17

1.85

±0.

152.

13 ±

0.08

1.72

±0.

1012

–15


other cultivars, ascorbate concentration varied between 48.7 and 91.9 mg·100 g–1 FW. Some of these cultivars have also been tested in Polish climatic conditions, giving comparable values of most of the above-mentioned traits [Bieniek 2012]. Compared with Ukrainian kiwiberries, those cultivated in Polish climatic con-ditions had considerably higher vitamin C content (above 100 mg·100 g–1 FW for most of the tested cultivars).

The current stage of Actinidia selec-tion work at NBG is directed towards ob-taining new cultivars bearing fruit with greater pro-health potential, i.e. higher content of biologically active substances. These properties should be accompanied by high frost-resistance and high yield. The established collection of Actinidia cultivars and forms may serve as start-ing material for this purpose.

FIGURE 1. Actinidia cultivars obtained in Kyiv Botanical Garden: 1 – ‘Juvileyna’; 2 – ‘Purpurna-ya Sadovaya’; 3 – ‘Smaragdova’; 4 – ‘Rima’; 5 – ‘Kievskaya Krupnoplodnaya’; 6 – ‘Rubinovaya’; 7 – ‘Nadya’; 8 – ‘Oryginalnaya’ (photo: N. Skrypchenko)

52 N. Skrypchenko

TABLE 2. Titratable acidity and sugar content depending on cultivar and harvest year. The values are means (±SD, n = 50)

Cultivar Titratable acidity (%) Total sugar (%)

2014 2015 2015 2013 2014 2015‘Purpurnaya Sadovaya’ 0.90 ±0.08 0.42 ±0.04 0.54 ±0.05 6.76 ±0.57 11.97 ±1.05 6.62 ±0.71

‘Sentiabrskaya’ 0.32 ±0.04 0.63 ±0.06 0.41 ±0.03 7.59 ±0.69 5.56 ±0.59 8.03 ±0.73‘Krasunia’ 0.30 ±0.03 0.39 ±0.04 0.48 ±0.04 8.20 ±0.72 7.34 ±0.68 6.51 ±0.56‘Kievskaya Gibridnaya’ 0.88 ±0.07 0.64 ±0.05 0.76 ±0.06 7.23 ±0.58 6.91 ±0.40 7.07 ±0.65

‘Kievskaya Krupnoplodnaya 0.65 ±0.05 0.81 ±0.06 0.49 ±0.04 7.62 ±0.65 8.47 ±0.74 6.80 ±0.54

‘Figurnaya’ 0.28 ±0.03 0.46 ±0.04 0.37 ±0.03 10.01 ±0.95 10.36 ±0.89 9.72 ±0.83‘Rima’ 0.49 ±0.04 0.45 ±0.04 0.53 ±0.04 11.31 ±1.04 12.26 ±1.09 10.36 ±0.98‘Zagadkova’ 0.65 ±0.05 0.43 ±0.03 0.88 ±0.06 9.57 ±0.84 10.28 ±0.89 4.27 ±0.39‘Originalnaya’ 0.91 ±0.08 0.47 ±0.03 0.49 ±0.04 7.37 ±0.68 7.45 ±0.69 8.76 ±0.74‘Lasunka’ 0.77 ±0.07 0.62 ±0.05 0.72 ±0.06 7.80 ±0.69 10.88 ±0.84 8.20 ±0.68‘Karavaievskaya Urozhainaya’ 0.78 ±0.06 0.51 ±0.04 0.88 ±0.07 8.75 ±0.77 9.95 ±0.86 9.64 ±0.88

‘Nadiya’ 0.71 ±0.05 0.52 ±0.04 0.76 ±0.06 8.40 ±0.71 5.46 ±0.42 7.95 ±0.62‘Rubinovaya’ 0.32 ±0.03 0.21 ±0.02 0.96 ±0.08 9.40 ±0.83 10.22 ±0.87 8.20 ±0.64‘Perlyna Sadu’ 0.75 ±0.06 0.38 ±0.03 0.55 ±0.04 9.91 ±0.84 9.40 ±0.72 9.64 ±0.73‘Juvileyna’ 0.51 ±0.04 0.43 ±0.03 0.52 ±0.05 10.78 ±0.97 11.79 ±0.98 10.09 ±0.89‘Smaragdova’ 0.44 ±0.04 0.42 ±0.03 0.49 ±0.04 9.20 ±0.87 9.64 ±0.81 8.76 ±0.74

FIGURE 2. Fruit dry matter content for Actinidia cultivars. Values are three-year averages


FIGURE 3. Fruit vitamin C content for Actinidia cultivars. Values are three-year averages

FIGURE 4. Fruit carotenoids content for Actinidia cultivars. Values are three-year averages

54 N. Skrypchenko

CONCLUSIONS

As a result of the introduction, accli-matization and selection of Actinidia at the NBG, a collection has been cre-ated including 6 species (A. arguta, A. kolomikta, A. arguta var. purpurea, A. polygama, A. chinensis, A. macro-sperma, A.callosa) and over 300 dif-ferent forms and cultivars. Fifteen of these cultivars have been entered in the Register of Plant Cultivars of Ukraine.The average fruit weight of the select-ed cultivars ranged from 6.4 to 20.0 g, and the productivity of a 15-year-old plant ranged from 9 to 35 kg·plant–1; the fruit ripening period lasted from late August until early October – prac-tically for 2 months.The fruit of NBG Actinidia cultivars had vitamin C, carotenoid and to-tal sugar contents in the ranges 48––120 mg·100 g–1 FW, 0.39–1.40 mg··100 g–1 FW and 7.1–11.3% respec-tively.It was concluded that the evaluated kiwiberry cultivars are able to com-pete with kiwifruit and other well--known fruits.

REFERENCESBIENIEK A. (2012). Yield, morphology and bio-

logical value of fruits of Actinidia arguta and Actinidia purpurea and some of their hybrid cultivars grown in north-eastern Poland. Acta Sci. Pol., Hortorum Cultus 11 (3), 117–130.

FERGUSON A.R., HUANG H. (2007). Ge-netic Resources of Kiwifruit: Domestica-tion and Breeding. Plant and Food Research 3: 1–121.

GOST 8756.22-80 (1981). Produkty pererabot-ki plodov i ovoszhej. Metody opredelenia karotina. Izdatelstvo standartov, Moscow.

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GOST 25555.0-82 (1984). Produkty pererabotki plodov i ovoszhej. Metody opredelenia ti-triruemoj kislotnosti. Izdatelstvo standartov, Moscow.

GOST 8756.13-87 (1988). Produkty pererabotki plodov i ovoszhej. Metody opredelenia saha-rov. Izdatelstvo standartov, Moscow.

GOST 28562-90 (1990). Produkty pererabotki plodov i ovoszhej. Refraktometricheskij me-tod opredelenia rastvorimyh suhih veszhestv. Izdatelstvo standartov, Moscow.

KLIMIENKO S.V., SKRYPCHENKO N.V. (2013). Sorta plodovyh i jagodnyh rastenij selekcii Nacionalnogo botanicheskogo sada im. N.N. Grishko. Izdatelstvo Ukrainskogo fi tosociologicheskogo centra, Kiev.

LATOCHA P. (2010). Morfologia oraz wartość użytkowa owoców aktinidii ostrolistnej i mie-szańcowej. Postdoctoral dissertation. Wyd. Wieś Jutra, Warszawa.

PLESHKOV B.P. (1976). Оpredelenie vitamina С jodometricheskim metodom. Wyd. Kolos, Moscow.

SHAJTAN I.M., MOROZ P.A., KLIMIENKO S.V. (1983). Introdukcija i selekcija juszhnyh i novyh plodovyh rastenij. Naukova dumka, Kiev.

Streszczenie: Charakterystyka owoców odmian aktinidii wyselekcjonowanych w Ogrodzie Bota-nicznym Akademii Nauk Ukrainy im. M. Grish-ko w Kijowie. Celem pracy była charakterystyka owoców nowych odmian aktinidii wyselekcjo-nowanych w Narodowym Ogrodzie Botanicz-nym im. M. Grishko Narodowej Akademii Nauk Ukrainy. Artykuł podsumowuje wyniki prac nad selekcją i introdukcją aktinidii ostrolistnej (Ac-tinidia arguta) i jej mieszańców prowadzonych w Ogrodzie Botanicznym Akademii Nauk Ukra-iny. Celem tych prac było uzyskanie odmian o lepszej jakości owoców, większej produktyw-ności oraz lepszej mrozoodporności. Badania po-mologiczne oraz biochemiczne owoców prowa-dzono w latach 2013–2015. Owoce najlepszych odmian zawierały znaczne ilości witaminy C,


cukrów, kwasów organicznych, karotenu i miały dużą zawartość suchej masy. Plon poszczegól-nych odmian zawierał się w przedziale 9–35 kg z jednej rośliny. Poszczególne odmiany podzie-lono na grupy pod względem pory dojrzewania

owoców. Najlepsze odmiany mają owoce dobrej jakości, dają duży plon i mogą być z powodze-niem uprawiane na plantacjach towarowych oraz w ogrodach przydomowych. Mogą być także cennym materiałem do dalszej hodowli.

Abstract: Social initiatives as a means of par-ticipation in the transformation of city space. A review is made of selected social interventions having the goal of improving the quality of the landscape in Warsaw. The chosen case studies also illustrate a typology of social activities car-ried out to improve city public spaces and green-ery. The initiatives have taken place during the past several years, starting from 2007 (the year of the fi rst known social action to improve the landscape: “Dotleniacz/Oxygenator”, created by Joanna Rajkowska). Since that time there has been a noticeable increase in social expectations in many areas of life, including the creation of public city space. From the second half of the fi rst decade of the 21st century we can observe more and more social initiatives which may be consid-ered a reaction to the low quality of Polish city space. The presented examples illustrate a trend for the transformation of city space by means of actions organized by nongovernmental organiza-tions and non-associated activists.

Key words: city landscape, social activities in the public space, social activities for landscaping, so-cial participation, urban gardening

INTRODUCTION

Nongovernmental organizations and foundations, which are the main organ-izers of various social activities in cit-ies, show through their actions the most

current social needs in recreating city space. We may regard these initiatives as something of a “fi rst-aid kit” for urban problems – in many cases social initia-tives are the fi rst step towards transform-ing city spaces in need of modernization. We can see that organized initiatives take place mainly in two kinds of city spaces: fi rstly in the most degraded city areas, including residential neighbourhoods, and secondly in the most representative city public spaces. This gives an indi-cation of what is important to citizens: fi rstly a pleasant place to live, followed by space to spend time outside the home. It can also be clearly observed that many of these actions include the moderniza-tion of existing green areas and planting of new greenery1. These small-scale in-

1 These need basic knowledge about ecosystem services and green infrastructure theory – the two most contemporary theories on how greenery (and ecosystems on a larger scale) are perceived in human life. Ecosystem services are the benefi ts provided by ecosystems that contribute to making human life both possible and worth living. Ac-cording to the European Commission’s defi nition of green infrastructure, greenery in the city is also a tool to increase the quality of life. Social benefi ts of green infrastructure include, for example: bet-ter health and human well-being, more attractive, greener cities, higher property values and local


Social initiatives as a means of participation in the transformation of city spaceMONIKA DOMANOWSKA*Mazovian Branch of the Polish Landscape Architects Association, Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW


58 M. Domanowska

terventions, of which the main idea is to recreate city space with greenery, shows how important for residents (on the basic level of needs) is contact with nature2. Observation of spontaneous actions in the city space can provide an excellent opportunity to obtain knowledge on how to create smarter and more pleas-ant cities. According to the New Charter of Athens 2003 we can distinguish four main trends in changes in the city: so-cial and political changes, economic and technological changes, environmental changes, and urban changes. Under each of these categories, the expected infl u-ence on cities is considered – both for citizens and planners. These trends are also seen in social city interventions.

We consider here selected social inter-ventions carried out since 2004 of which the goal was to improve the landscape of Warsaw. The presented examples of so-cial initiatives show how great is the im-pact of small-scale interventions on the quality of living in the city. Nongovern-mental organizations, through their ac-tions, highlight the most pressing issues for urban residents. It has been observed that one of the causes of social activa-tion of the city’s residents is a reaction to the gradual degradation of Warsaw’s urban spaces in four areas: physical, so-cial, aesthetic and natural [Domanowska

distinctiveness, enhanced tourism and recreation opportunities (from the European Commission brochure “Building a Green Infrastructure for Europe”, European Union, 2013).2 For basic information about the psychologi-cal impact of greenery on city residents, see A. Baum, P. Bell, T. Greene, 2004, “Environmen-tal Psychology”, Gdańskie Wydawnictwo Psy-chologiczne, Gdańsk.

2014]. The selected examples indicate the needs and expectations of citizens concerning the modernization of degrad-ed areas. They also show that increasing the amount and quality of greenery in the city is seen as one of the best tools to improve the city space.

The political backdrop to the problem is that since the fi rst decade of the 21st century there has been a rapid increase in the interest of city inhabitants in trans-forming and improving their own place of living. There are several reasons why local activism has begun to gain popu-larity in Polish cities. First, Polish acces-sion to the European Union has opened a new period of social participation. The new political situation and opening of borders gave Poles a sense of equal opportunity with the countries of West-ern Europe, and the end of the period of Poland’s association with the coun-tries of Eastern Europe. Another reason is the increase in knowledge about the Polish spatial planning system, partly because of educational social initiatives. The next step to increasing opportuni-ties for public participation in shaping the landscape of the city was the crea-tion in 2009 of a Commission for Social Dialogue at various offi ces of the City of Warsaw (as well as in other Polish cit-ies, for example Kraków and Łódź). This is an advisory body for the city authori-ties, and may include individual residents and representatives of nongovernmental organizations and foundations (during meetings, a given range of current issues relating to the commission’s area of inter-est are discussed). The Commission for Social Dialogue is one of the fi rst steps in

Social initiatives as a means of participation in the transformation... 59

the creation of a civic society. Public par-ticipation in the urban planning decision--making process, respected by the author-ities, forms part of the broader concept of democracy [Siemiński 2007].

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The materials which were used to pre-pare a review of social activities having an impact on city landscape quality were collected by the author through her work for nongovernmental organizations in 2007–2013. The starting point of the period of study is defi ned by the fi rst known social action to improve the land-scape: “Dotleniacz/Oxygenator”, created by Joanna Rajkowska.

Basic materials for the article were gathered by the author by mapping and describing (based on the same question-naire) more than one hundred social interventions on the Map of Social In-terventions3. The mapped interventions were required to fulfi ll several conditions (Appendix):

they took place in Polish city public space or in city parks or squares (so--called activities for landscaping);they were a social response to city space degradation (activities such as city space modernization, creation of new public green areas, increasing of the amount of greenery in the city);they took place after 2004;they involved the participation of lo-cal inhabitants.

3 The map was prepared by Monika Domanowska for the Sendzimir Foundation and is published on the Foundation’s webpage: http://www.uslugie-kosystemow.pl/?q=mapa.

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●

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Only a few of the mapped interven-tions were selected for inclusion in this article. All of them took place in Warsaw over the past eight years. The interven-tions described here were chosen be-cause of their diversity, the goal being to illustrate the full range of participatory activities for landscaping. The material analyzed consisted of inventoried social initiatives which took place in:

city parks – 23 social initiatives;green private gardens and terraces –– 32 social initiatives;green streets and city squares – 45 so-cial initiatives.The cities with most inventoried ini-

tiatives were Warsaw (33 initiatives), Kraków (9 initiatives), Gdańsk (8 ini-tiatives), Łódź (13 initiatives), Poznań (12 initiatives), and Zielona Góra, Wro-cław, Olsztyn, Opole, Lublin and Biały-stok (a total of 27 initiatives).

RESULTS – A TYPOLOGY OF PARTICIPATORY ACTIVITIES FOR LANDSCAPING

On the basis of the Map of Social In-terventions described in the previous section, it was possible to construct a typology of participatory activities for landscaping. Types of participatory ac-tivities for landscaping were also iden-tifi ed on the basis of the most popular theory in social participation: the ladder of social participation [Arnstein 1969]4.

4 In the typology, social participation is divided into 8 levels, in three groups. The levels are ar-ranged from the lowest social participation up to the 8 level, called citizens’ control. Every level shows how great an impact citizens can have in

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60 M. Domanowska

Landscaping activities carried out by nongovernmental organizations are of two main types: those with short-term impact and those with long-term impact for local citizens. We can also distin-guish actions which relate to a specifi c location in city space from those that do not, as in the case of many education-al activities. The fi rst type of activities includes short-term projects of various kinds carried out in a specifi c area of the city, such as:

artistic activities, art in public spac-es, installations, exhibitions (in parks and green spaces) – these actions may have an educational impact on city inhabitants; temporary land development, for example playgrounds which can be used only in summer time – this kind of activity may have a diverse impact on citizens, depending of the type of land use.Participatory activities for landscap-

ing with a long-term impact on the city space include:I. Point actions (actions related to a spe-

cifi c location):design solutions and design con-sultations – initiatives to present new ideas for the functioning and design of existing space – such actions have both an informative

creating their own way of living in the commu-nity. Every step of the ladder also refl ects differ-ent stages in the creation of a civic society. Even if issues of public participation in transforming the landscape in Poland are not new, it is still con-sidered to be at an early stage [Pawłowska and Staniewska 2012].

●

●

●

and an educational impact (im-pact on the creation of a civic so-ciety);modernization of public spaces such as green spaces, housing estates, residential courtyards, parks, green spaces and cemeter-ies – such actions can infl uence the aesthetics and the quality of city space; urban gardening (including parks and green spaces, boulevards, and housing estates) – such actions can infl uence the aesthetic, social and ecological aspects of living in the city; action against destruction of green areas – these initiatives are mainly organized by local inhab-itants who use the green areas in question.

II. Educational activities: lectures, pic-nics, workshops, training courses – many of these initiatives are or-ganized to educate people about ecological ways of living, sustain-able development or the creation of a civic society.Educational activities not related to

a specifi c location in the city space may have the aim of teaching about the land-scape and promoting good practice in the development of spaces, in the form of workshops and lectures with the gen-eral theme of understanding the shaping of spaces. The goal of these initiatives is to increase knowledge and contribute to creating a civic society.

The activities listed above have dif-ferent durations and may have short- or

●

●

●


long-term effects. Short-term effects are associated with actions implemented in a particular area for a specifi ed time. Long-term effects are prolonged indefi -nitely. A classifi cation of types of action into short-term and long-term is shown in Figure.

RESULTS – EXAMPLES OF PARTICIPATORY ACTIVITIES FOR LANDSCAPING IN WARSAW

Point actions – artistic activities

The best-known social action (and one of the most important and noteworthy) in the Warsaw city landscape was also one of the fi rst, created by the Warsaw artist Joanna Rajkowska. The “Oxygen-ator”5 was built on one of the poorly de-

5 “Dotleniacz/Oxygenator” was created in col-laboration with artists from the Museum of Mod-ern Art in Warsaw.

veloped and under-utilized small squares close to Warsaw city center. The instal-lation in the square consisted of a pond with aeration apparatus that created bub-bles on the surface of the water and mist rising over the pond. This installation gained recognition both among peo-

ple living around the square (many of whom are elderly) and other inhabitants of Warsaw, acting as a curiosity in the middle of town. “Oxygenator” was to be an installation with short-term impact (remaining in place for the summer of 2007), and became a symbol of the need for a change of approach to the design of space in Warsaw. The installation at-tracted many spectators, including both local residents as well as those coming from other districts who had heard about the “pond”. Following the success of “Oxygenator” the city announced a con-

Point actions

Long-term impact

Educational activities Point actions

Artistic activities

Temporary land development

Design solutions

Design consultations

Urban gardening

Modernizations of areas

Lectures

Workshops

Training

Picnics

Initiatives against destruction of green areas

Short-term impact

FIGURE. Types of participatory activities for landscaping

62 M. Domanowska

test for the modernization of the square, which was won by a design in a modern style, although this did not provide for the continued presence of “Oxygena-tor”. The modernization was carried out between 2009 and 2011; however, the removal of “Oxygenator” led to a drop in the popularity of the square. Ultimate-ly, the square has become a symbol of the “death” of public space and of lack of agreement between residents and of-fi cials.

Activities in the fi eld of education with the temporary use of land

The selected examples are two projects prepared by the “Unlock” Association for the Improvement of the Residential Environment, implemented between 2011 and 2012: “M3” and “M4”. The aim of these projects was to enable housing estate residents to attend meet-ings where actions were carried out, and to encourage them to identify is-sues affecting the development of the residential space and identify possible solutions. Efforts were made to provoke local communities to engage in dialogue and cooperation to improve the quality of life. Additionally, a series of work-shops and lectures attempted to indicate possibilities for residents of the housing estates to use parkland for active recrea-tion. Based on the whole of the projects’ action plans in both cases, temporary ex-hibition halls were built in parks close to the residential areas. These were de-signed in the form of housing typical for the residential development adjacent to the parks. Both projects thematically re-

ferred to the architecture and the present way of functioning of those residential areas. The names “M3” and “M4” refer to codes formerly used in standards for housing construction6.

Point actions – design solutions

The “Seven Year Stadium” Urban Sports Square is a project which represents ac-tivities carried out by nongovermmental organizations (NGOs). It is an initiative of social architects and representatives of Warsaw NGOs (including ordinary citizens). The square was designed to offer a number of proposals for active recreation. There was space for various kinds of sports such as skating, biking, yoga and basketball, and also a place for spending time more quietly, sitting and relaxing while viewing others engaged in sporting activities. The project led directly to the establishment of coopera-tion with the District Offi ce of Bemowo, which worked with the project team to design the Bemowo Urban Sports Square, opened in July 2014.

Point actions – urban gardening

Urban gardening is one of the most pop-ular types of city actions among indi-vidual citizens, and also among NGOs. Gardening initiatives include both grass-roots actions such as “guerrilla garden-ing” (which consists of planting in pub-lic spaces without obtaining a permit to

6 “M3” is the symbol for a two-bedroom apart-ment with kitchen, and “M4” for a three-bedroom apartment with kitchen.


do so) as well as a large group of edu-cational initiatives to promote the plant-ing of crops. The promotion of urban gardening in Warsaw is currently sup-ported by cultural institutions such as the Copernicus Science Center and the Ujazdowski Castle Museum of Modern Art. The photos show one such initiative, involving the creation of a communal vegetable garden. This was carried out by individual urban gardeners in the area of the Finnish Cottages estate.

Point actions – modernization of city areas

The purpose of these actions in the con-text of Warsaw is the beautifi cation of degraded common areas (mainly court-yards of old houses) in the more ne-glected and less subsidized districts. An example of a project aimed at this kind of renewal is a project of the “Unlock” Association with the slogan “Blocks, courtyards, townhouses revive neighbor-hoods”. It consisted of the transformation of selected courtyards in several districts of Warsaw. Activities within the scope of the project included partial moderniza-tion, retrofi tting areas with recreational infrastructure7, and vegetable plantings in selected areas of the housing estates. During the implementation of the project public consultations were carried out to determine the main needs of residents around the courtyards, integrate the resi-dents, increase their identifi cation with

7 This was mainly equipment typical of chil-dren’s playgrounds, such as swings in courtyards (http: www.odblokuj.org/?cat=3, data dostępu 20.04.2012).

the environment, and gain their support for the changes. The result in each case was a mobilization of residents to work together physically to improve the qual-ity of the space “belonging” to them all.

Point actions – initiatives against the destruction of green areas

Currently in Warsaw, some properties expropriated after the Second World War are being returned to their prior owners. This situation creates social confl icts. One of these confl icts concerned the green space on Szara Street in the center of Warsaw. This green space lies within an area which was returned to its pre-war owner, who wished to change the zoning of the land from green space to housing and services. This plan led to objections from local residents. By law, the owner was entitled to build on the site (as a result of, inter alia, the absence of an enforceable zoning plan, and the issuance of a construction permit). Fol-lowing the intervention of citizens op-posed to building on the green space (the culmination of the intervention coming in 2010) the site today remains unde-veloped and functions as a green space. The determination of Warsaw residents in the fi ght against building on a small green area has had a real effect.

Another area of greenery for which people in Warsaw are fi ghting is a small park in Szmulowizna, which, in accord-ance with the fi ndings of a study, is to be transformed into an area used for transport purposes. Thanks to the inter-vention of residents and nongovernmen-tal organizations, Warsaw’s authorities

64 M. Domanowska

have begun work on the demarcation of a new route for the road. In the literature we can fi nd a new term for this kind of situation: “public argument”, as opposed to public debate [Pawłowska 2009].

DISCUSSION – SOCIAL ACTIVISM AS A TREND

In comparison with other cities, War-saw appears to produce a relatively large number of social activities related to the landscape. According to the Map of Social Interventions prepared by the Sendzimir Foundation, Warsaw heads the list of active cities. This may result both from the city’s large population and residents’ higher level of knowledge about social participation. In 2014 the City of Warsaw offered an opportunity for citizens to take part in reshaping the city. The municipality allocated a spe-cial budget (“participation budget”) for social initiatives proposed by citizens. We can also observe that there is cur-rently a trend towards social participa-tion and city debates. The most common topics of debates include the aesthetics of the city space, greenery in the city or lack thereof, community gardens, local spatial plans and public transport in the city. This trend can certainly be expected to have a positive impact on the sense of social participation.

In the period since 2013 we can ob-serve three very strong trends in social initiatives for green areas:

urban gardening (here we should mention the Jazdów Housing Estate and its vegetable gardens); actions to draw attention to the number of trees felled every year in

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Warsaw (for example, a campaign which was organized to compel the City of Warsaw to publish offi cial statistics on how many trees were felled and where); actions to draw attention to the extent of the problem of air pollution and to campaign for new regulations to protect Polish cities from pollution. A good example of this can be seen in Kraków, where because of a cam-paign by activists and the very poor condition of the city’s air, a new by-law was enacted. Within a few years it will be illegal in Kraków to use products (for example coal) which increase dust emissions.We can also observe that some social

activists who formerly played a leading role in the actions of NGOs have at-tempted to form political groups such as Miasto Jest Nasze (“The City is Ours”). Also, a few activists from NGOs are ac-tive in left-leaning political parties such as Zieloni (“Greens”) and Razem (“To-gether”).

CONCLUSIONS

The actions described in this article il-lustrate how social activists try to deal with a wide range of city problems, in-cluding air pollution, lack of greenery, the condition of housing estates, and so on. These problems are mainly connect-ed with city space degradation or with the lack of high-quality city public space which would offer diverse possibilities of recreation. The beginning of the trend for transformation of city space by non-

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-governmental organizations and indi-vidual activists has given a new outlook on the role of social participation in the city. For several years there has been an increase in social responsibility for pub-lic spaces, whereas about 10 years ago most in Polish society felt that they only had the ability to decide about shaping private spaces. The last decade has been a turning point for the development of the concept of the “citizen’s city” which Warsaw may become.

There is no doubt that the future shape of the city landscape will be more dependent on the voices of citizens. Observing the types of social activities taking place in the city space, we can foresee that because of the stronger and stronger position of NGOs and local ac-tivists, these will have a great impact on the further development of cities, and this can be hoped to result in more sus-tainable and people-friendly landscapes.

Appendix. Examples of participatory activities for landscaping in WarsawNo Name of activity Main organizer Place Year Target group Duration Category 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1 “Dotleniacz//Oxygenator”

Joanna Rajkowska

Warsaw, Grzybowski Square

2007 local residents summer season

Green streets and city squares

2 Rock bombing KwiatuchiWarsaw, next to the Central Artistic Pool

2009 city activists 1 dayGreen private gardens and terraces

3 Backyard Gardens

Measure High, (Mierz Wysoko)

Warsaw, Brzeska Street

2010local residents, city activists

summer season, 1 year

Green private gardens and terraces

4 Urban gardening Kwiatuchi

Warsaw, Chmielna Street

2010 city activists 1 dayGreen private gardens and terraces

5 M3

Unlock Association for Local Communities

Warsaw, Służewiecka Valley Park

2011local residents, open access

1 month, summer season

City parks

6

Neighbourhood Festival in Sielce (Sielecki Festyn Sąsiedzki)

My Sielce (Moje Sielce)

Warsaw, Sielce area 2011

local residents, open access

1 day, summer season


7 Powiślenia Partnership for Powiśle

Warsaw, Powiśle area 2011 open access summer

season


8 Bowls of Raspberries Kwiatuchi Warsaw, Sady

Żoliborskie 2011local residents, open access

1 day City parks

66 M. Domanowska

Appendix, continued1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 M4


Warsaw, Zasława Malickiego Park


2 months, summer season

City parks

10Sielce for Architects exhibition

Sielce for Architects (Sielce Architektów)

Warsaw, Baza Theatre 2012


2 weeks, winter season


11Social Garden by Konopacki Place

city activists

Warsaw, Praga Północ district, Konopacki Palace

2012

local residents, open access, city activists

summer season (1 year)


12 Come On and Plant Kwiatuchi

Warsaw, Za Żelazną Bramą residential area


1 dayGreen private gardens and terraces

13 Garden for Birds (Ogród na Ptak)

Polish Birds Association

Warsaw, Finnish Cottages area

2013 city activists, open access



14Social Garden (Ogród społeczny)

Krzysztof Herman and Art. Group Parque-no

Warsaw, 4, Wilcza Street 2013 open access autumn

season


15

Grounded (Uziemieni) – a miniature garden and water garden

Kwiatkibratki and Copernicus Science Center

Warsaw, Copernicus Science Center

2013 open access2 months, summer season


16Garden of the Senses (Ogród zmysłów)

Iga Kołodziej Mint & Lavender for Ujazdowski Castle Museum

Warsaw, Ujazdowski Castle Museum

2013 open access2 months, summer season


17

Actions and letter-writing concerning the situation of Krasiński Garden

Green Power (Zielona Moc)

Warsaw, Krasiński Garden

2013

nature of the initiative prevents identifi cation of the main target

–- City parks



18

Open letter concerning the situation of Krasiński Garden

M20Warsaw, Krasiński Garden

2013

nature of the initiative prevents identifi cation of the main target

– City parks

19 City Garden Alter Eko foundation

Warsaw, Cypel Czerniakowski

2013




20 Misy Żywiciela Kwiatuchi Warsaw, Żoliborz 2013 no guests, city

activists 1 day City parks

21

Barren of Art – Królikarnia Museum (Nieużytki Sztuki)

Królikarnia Museum in cooperation with Elżbieta Jabłońska Nieużytki Sztuki

Warsaw, Królikarnia Park

2014 open access summer season (1 year)

City parks

22

Blocks, Courtyards, Townhouses Revive Neighborhoods (Blok podwórko kamienice ożywiły się dzielnice)


Warsaw, Praga Północ district

2011, 2012 local residents

summer season (2 years)


23

May Picnic on a Slope (Majówka na Skarpie)

Warsaw Culture Road / coordinator Artur Jerzy Filip

Warsaw, Rydza Śmigłego Park

2012, 2013 open access

recurring event, spring time


24

City Sports Square (Skwer sportów miejskich)

Group of volunteer architects and city activists

Warsaw, design theory

2011, 2012, 2013

city activists 3 years City parks

26 Green Jazdów (Zielony Jazdów)

Green Jazdów (Zielony Jazdów)

Warsaw, Ujazdowski Castle Museum

2012, 2013, 2014

open access

recurring event, summer season


68 M. Domanowska


27 Wola – Action In Place

In Place Foundation (Fundacja na Miejscu)

Warsaw, 3, Krochmalna Street, Za Żelazną Bramą residential area

2012, 2013, 2014

local residents, city activists

2 yearsGreen private gardens and terraces

28Mariensztat – Action In Place

In Place Foundation (Fundacja na Miejscu)

Warsaw, Mariensztat

2012, 2013, 2014


2 yearsGreen streets and city squares

29 Open Jazdów Open Jazdów

Warsaw (Jazdów area, Finnish Cottages area)

2012, 2013, 2014


summer season since 2013


30 Count on Green (Licz na Zieleń)

Sendzimir Foundation (Fundacja Sendzimira)

Warsaw, Poznań, Łódź, Kraków

2013, 2014

open access, experts, offi cials

2 yearsGreen streets and city squares

31Żolibuh 3.0, 2.0, 1.0 / Plant the City

Kwiatuchi Warsaw, Żoliborz

2011, 2012, 2013


recurring event, several days each year


32

Protection of trees in Wielkopolski Park from felling

People of Ochota District (Ochocianie)

Warsaw, Ochota, Wielkopolski Park

since 2010 open access 5 years City parks

33Tea House (Domek herbaciany)

Michał Mioduszewski and Paweł Althamer, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Nowa Fala Theatre Foundation

Warsaw, Bródno Park, Targówek District

since 2011 open access

summer season, for 4 years

City parks

34 Planting Ursus Rail Station

Urban Gardeners group

Warsaw, Ursus rail station

since 2012 city activists

recurring event, 1 day each year



REFERENCESARNSTEIN S.R. (1969). A Ladder of Citizen

Participation. JAIP 35 (4): 216–224.BAUM A., BELL P., GREENE T. (2004). Envi-

ronmental Psychology. Gdańskie Wydawni-ctwo Psychologiczne, Gdańsk.

DOMANOWSKA M. (2014). Degradacja ter-enów zieleni na przykładzie Warszawy; doc-toral thesis in the Department of Landscape Architecture, Warsaw University of Life Sci-ences, Warszawa.

European Commission. (2013). Building a Green Infrastructure for Europe. Belgium

PAWŁOWSKA K. (2009). Przeciwdziałanie konfl iktom wokół ochrony i kształtowania krajobrazu; Partycypacja społeczna, debata publiczna negocjacje. Wydawnictwo Poli-techniki Krakowskiej, Kraków.

PAWŁOWSKA K., STANIEWSKA A. (2012). Udział społeczeństwa w ochronie, zarządzaniu i planowaniu krajobrazu – podręcznik dobrych praktyk. Politechnika Krakowska, Kraków.

SIEMIŃSKI W. (2007). Cele i zasady partycypa-cji społecznej w planowaniu przestrzennym – przegląd literatury. Człowiek i Środowisko, Instytut Gospodarki Przestrzennej i Mieszkal-nictwa, Warszawa.

UK National Ecosystem Assessment. (2012). Retrieved from http://uknea.unepwcmc.org/EcosystemAssessmentConcepts/Ecosystem-Services/tabid/103/Default.aspx.

Streszczenie: Inicjatywy społeczne jako sposób uczestnictwa w transformacji przestrzeni miej-skiej. Prezentowany artykuł jest opisem specyfi ki oddolnych działań na rzecz krajobrau miejskie-go, gdzie działania na terenie Warszawy posłu-żyły jako studium przypadku. Przegląd działań społecznych na rzecz krajobrazu rozpoczyna akcja budowy “Dotleniacza” Joanny Rajkowi-skiej. Działanie to rozpoczęło trend inicjatyw społecznych mających mieć wpływ na krajobraz Warszawy. Od tego czasu obserwować możemy stopniowy wzrost liczby chęci społeczności lo-kalnych do wprowadzania zmian w ich najbli-żyszm otoczeniu. Może być to reakcją na brak ak-ceptacji niskiej jakości otaczającej przestrzeni jak i zauważenie możliwości wpływu na to, w jakim otoczeniu żyjemy. W niniejszym artykule opisa-no zbiory tematyczne organizowanych inicjatyw, opisano ich specyfi kę, a następnia zaprezentowa-no wybrane przykłady. Narzędziem do monitorin-gu inicjatyw oddolnych na rzecz krajobrazu było ich mapowanie.

Abstract: The church garden as an element shaping the quality of city life – a case study in southern Warsaw. The aim of the research was to identify the forms of presently existing gardens surrounding sacral buildings in the city, to verify how the presence of these gardens improves the quality of life, and to determine whether their model as shaped in the medieval period is still current. The research covered the gardens of 22 churches within the southern Warsaw deaner-ies of Wilanów, Służew and Ursynów. The con-tribution of the analyzed sacral complexes to improvement of the inhabitants’ quality of life is revealed in several of their functions: as histori-cally shaped spaces of prayer and contemplation, important for spiritual life; as biologically active areas, increasing the biological potential of the city; as recreational areas; and as city landscape dominants building a local identity. The results show that the majority of the analyzed church gardens serve as meeting places for local inhabit-ants. Within most of the complexes, biologically active space accounts for 50–60% of the total. Nearly half of the complexes are spatially con-nected with other natural areas. Furnishings of the church gardens are similar to those of other city green areas – benches, lanterns and fl ower-pots are the most frequent. A pathway encircling the church, used during processions, is found within the majority of the complexes, although often the pathway systems are more developed. Sculptural and small architectonic elements related to reli-gious symbolism occur within nearly half of the complexes.

Key words: garden, church, churchyard, quality of life, Warsaw

INTRODUCTION

State of knowledge

Sacral buildings located in a city are often surrounded by designed green ar-eas. Churchyards perform the role of a transitional zone between the Sacred of a temple and the Profane of an inhabited area. They are often garden composi-tions consisting of lawns, fl ower-beds, shrubs, trees, and elements of symbolic meaning such as Stations of the Cross, memorials, shrines, votive crosses or fi gures of saints [Mitkowska and Siew-niak 1998]. They are used as a place of celebration of some church services [Mitkowska and Siewniak 1998], parish fairs and festivities [Nadrowski 2008]. They are also places where people can calm down and concentrate before en-tering the church, and so they should be laid out so as to favor the creation of such an atmosphere [Stępień 1982 and Nadrowski 2008]. The authors assume that church gardens located within dense urban developments are also valuable resources of biologically active areas, which, despite their usually small size,


The church garden as an element shaping the quality of city life – a case study in southern WarsawMAŁGORZATA KACZYŃSKA*, DOROTA SIKORADepartment of Landscape Art, Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW


72 M. Kaczyńska, D. Sikora

improve the quality of life in the city. Green urban areas, even those of small size, can improve the microclimate and favor well-being [Forsyth and Musac-chio 2005, Mega 2010]. Church gar-dens may be an example of such areas at neighborhood level. Areas surrounding sacral buildings nowadays perform new functions related to recreation and edu-cation: they may contain playgrounds for children, secular displays and exhibi-tions, aviaries, and Christmas cribs with real animals. Information about such new activities can be found on many parishes’ websites and journals. All of this proves that church gardens can be valuable sites in the urban landscape, important for different groups of local inhabitants.

Generally, the subject of gardens surrounding sacral buildings in Poland and Central Europe is not frequently ad-dressed in scholarly works. Usually, the issue of gardens is mentioned in publica-tions dealing with the larger urban con-text of the temple. An exception is clois-ters, whose gardens are well described in the literature, usually with regard to the historical aspect. The principles of the composition of European cloister gardens have been described by P. Hob-house [2000] and E. Barlow Rogers [2001]. The monastery garden is also the subject of a publication by W. Braunfels [1993]. The symbolism of the Paradise garden and its representations on Earth are analyzed by J. Delumeau [1996]. The principles of composition of Polish cloister gardens are discussed by G. Cio-łek [1954], L. Majdecki [1981], J. Bog-danowski [2000], M. Milecka [2009] and

M. Szafrańska [1998]. The vegetation of European medieval gardens, including cloister gardens, is discussed in works by P. Hobhouse [1997] and M. Milecka [2009, 2012].

Church gardens are less frequently discussed in the literature. Worthy of mention are numerous publications on English churchyards located both in the countryside and in the urban land-scape. These provide information on the churchyard’s form and its evolution, plant selection and social use, in both historical and contemporary contexts. Recent publications refer to modern approaches to churchyard care and em-phasize a growing recognition of their biodiversity value. Examples of such publications include those of N. Cooper [1995, 1996, 2001, 2012] and M. Child [2007]. Among recent noteworthy pub-lications in Poland are “The sacral gar-den – the idea and the reality” [Kozakie-wicz-Opałka et al. 2008], which contains articles dealing with cloister and church gardens, and “The Sacred in the histori-cal gardens and the symbolism of their vegetation” [Mitkowska and Siewniak 1997], which contains articles dealing with green areas surrounding pilgrim-age sanctuaries. Many sacral buildings and their garden surroundings, espe-cially historical monuments, have been described in monographs. An example of such a publication is one devoted to the church in Służew (Warsaw) and its surroundings [Sołtan-Lipska 2013]. There appear to be no scholarly publica-tions describing the church gardens and cloister gardens of southern Warsaw in a comprehensive manner.

The chuch garden as an element shaping... 73

Historical forms of layout of church surroundings

Churches and cloisters have been im-portant elements of the urban landscape since medieval times. Their architecton-ic form and their towers dominating the city skyline have been a visual mark of the substantial role played by the Church in the process of civilization. In the Mid-dle Ages, principles were established concerning the shaping of the surround-ings of the Christian sacral building, as well as models of its location in the ur-ban structure. These models were copied in the following centuries.

The functional program of the clois-ters, which included also gardens, origi-nated from the idea of the Roman cas-trum and villa, and its principles were clearly presented in the drawing of the model plan of the Benedictine abbey in Sankt Gallen [D’Alfonso and Samss 1997]. This program included a clois-ter garden, a herbaceous garden, used both for curative and culinary purposes, a cemetery and an orchard, which occu-pied the same area, and a vegetable gar-den connected to the gardener’s house. Sometimes the whole cloister was called a garden, in reference to Paradise, and the terrain of some Orthodox cloisters was entirely planted with fruit trees, pro-viding “redemption fruits” [Szafrańska 1999]. In fortifi ed cities, where space was lacking, this program was reduced, as can be seen in the cloisters of men-dicant and preacher orders such as the Franciscans, Dominicans and Poor Clares, who according to their monas-tic rule were obliged to settle in densely populated zones. Until 1237 they were

not allowed to possess their own land “except necessary terrain next to the cloister building, which could be exclu-sively used as a garden” [Ciołek 1954]. The cloister garden was always the most important symbolic space. It represented the idea of the celestial Paradise which was to be reached through contempla-tion. The symbolism of a square, the number four (rivers of Paradise, evan-gelists, cardinal virtues) contained in the cloister garden and elements like wells or fountains favored comprehension and contemplation of the religious content. The cloister garden was also used by the monks as a place of recreation, to exer-cise both body and mind. This tradition may have been transferred from the gar-den courtyards in the antique gymnasi-ums [Szafrańska 1999]. The medieval cloister was almost self-suffi cient. Its well-developed economic and educa-tional program, including also horticul-ture, enabled it to provide food for both monks and pilgrims. Cloister schools also widely promoted effective forms of cultivation, partially taking advantage of the antique literature preserved in the cloister libraries [Böhm 1994].

In the medieval period also parish churches, especially cathedrals, acquired a proper setting for their rank and func-tion – a square, which referred to the antique forum [D’Alfonso and Samss 1997]. This can also be seen in the modern churchyards surrounding sacral buildings. In the vicinity of many medi-eval churches, mostly behind the apse, places called paradise were established. They served to cultivate fl owers to deco-rate the altars, holy statues and shrines


[Barlow Rogers 2011]. Cathedrals, even those located within dense urban de-velopments, often had a cloister garden [Stępień 1982].

In England in the medieval period a churchyard was open to almost any kind of event. Parish activities taking place within the churchyard depended on the priest who held it in freehold, and usually fostered activities from which he might supplement his income. Certain parts of the ceremonies associated with baptism, marriage and burial began in the churchyard. Itinerant merchants set up their stalls beside the church. Strol-ling players, mummers and musicians performed and miracle plays took place. There were also many children’s church-yard games. Medieval churchyards were busy at most times, but the highlights were fairs and feast days. Dancing and games took place within the churchyard, although people respected the south part where the majority of the graves were located, and confi ned themselves to the north side [Child 2007].

Churches and their surroundings were also used for centuries as burial places. This led to the establishment of cemeteries within churchyards. The fact that the areas were considered sacred ground protected them from being built over. For both symbolic and practical reasons they were permanently fenced. The obligatory fencing of the necropolis was regulated by both medieval and lat-er synods. The synod in Gniezno in 1512 required a cemetery to be surrounded with walls, a wooden fence or a ditch. The 1538 synod in Chełmno required cemetery gates with wooden or iron

bars. The form Ordo visitationis from the early 15th century indicates that it was important to “be able to distinguish the sacred from the non-sacred” [Bis and Bis 2013].

It was the Edict of Nantes of 1777 that fi rst forbade burial within the churchyard for sanitary reasons and or-dered the necropolis to be established outside the city borders. After France, similar regulations were also introduced in other countries, including Poland. These changes resulted in the transfor-mation of former church cemeteries into designed green areas, where apart from ornamental trees and shrubs, Stations of the Cross, votive crosses, holy statues and representations of the grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes were located. Often the churchyard contains old trees (e.g. elms and limes in English churchyards), the majority of them planted along the boundaries and marking clear borders of the churchyard within the landscape [Cooper 2012]. In the mid-19th century, to promote the appropriate spiritual at-mosphere in churchyards, John Claudius Loudon advocated formal designs with a somber tone of evergreens and a vertical theme provided by fastigiated Irish yew and Monterey cypresses [Cooper 2012].


The aim of the research was to identify the forms of presently existing gardens surrounding the sacral buildings in the city, to verify how the presence of these gardens improves the quality of life, and to determine whether the model shaped for such gardens in the medieval period is still current. The research covered the


gardens surrounding 22 parish churches within three deaneries of southern War-saw (those of Wilanów, Służew and Ursynów) and their landscape context (Table 1, Fig. 1).

The urban landscape of southern War-saw was shaped mostly from the 1970s to the 1990s and at the start of the 21st

century. Its spatial composition is based on the historical road system of the pre-viously existing rural area. Although, a great part of the landscape is occupied by relatively new housing estates, the spatial complexes of former villages with their internal road systems are still preserved. The analyzed area refl ects

TABLE 1. List of analyzed sacral buildings and gardensNo Name of sacral building with garden

Wilanów deanery

1 Church of St. Joseph the Betrothed to the Virgin Mary (St. Stephan the King in Sielce parish) Sisters of Nazareth convent

2 Church of St. Casmir the Prince in Sielce (Resurrectionist Congregation)3 Sanctuary of Our Lady Teacher of Youths (Our Lady Queen of the Believers parish)

4 Churches of St. Antonio of Padua and St. John of Dukla (St. Boniface in Czerniaków parish) Bernadine cloister

5 Church of St. Thaddeus the Apostle6 Church of St. Antonio Maria Zaccaria (Barnabite Fathers parish)7 Church of St. Anna8 Temple of God’s Providence9 Church of the Mission of the Lord’s Disciples

Służew deanery10 Church of Our Lady Mother of Mercy (congregation of Marianist Brothers and Priests parish)11 Church of St. Maximilian Kolbe12 Church of St. Dominique and Dominican cloister 13 Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary (St. Catherine parish)14 Church of St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, Sacred Heart of Jesus convent15 Church of SS Peter and Paul the Apostles

Ursynów deanery16 Church of the Lord’s Ascension17 Church of Blessed Edmund Bojanowski18 Church of St. Thomas the Apostle19 Lord’s Offertory church20 Church of Blessed Ladislas of Gielniow21 Church of St. Pio of Pietrelcina22 Sanctuary of Our Lady Longing (St. Elisabeth parish)

Note that in the following tables the same numbering is used, to avoid repeating the church names.


a process of city development through incorporation of the rural area with ex-isting historical parish churches into the city boundaries and establishment of new urban housing estates with new parish churches meeting the needs of new com-munities. Therefore, the selected case study provides an opportunity to analyze church gardens of different scale, church rank, time of origin, and layout.

The research included a literature review and collection of data by means of on-site inventory and observations. The fi rst stage was a literature review aimed at recognizing the historical form of the layout of a church’s surroundings, its typical elements, its further evolu-tion, and signifi cance for the surround-ing landscape. This made it possible to

verify which historical patterns are still present in the analyzed gardens. The next stage consisted of an on-site inven-tory of the gardens’ compositional ele-ments: forms of vegetation, small archi-tectonic elements, sculptural details and pathway system, aimed at recognizing the present spatial structure of the gar-dens. This made it possible to determine the gardens’ artistic, spatial and symbol-ic values.

The research also included estima-tion of the biologically active area of the gardens (expressed as a percentage) based on analysis of aerial photographs, on-site recognition of the diversity of forms of vegetation, and identifi cation of whether the gardens are related to wider green structures. It was aimed to

FIGURE 1. Map showing the areas examined in their urban context. Churches are marked with num-bers as in Table 1. Based on maps of Warsaw deaneries available at http://koscioly.warszawa.pl/


determine the gardens’ ecological value. During the research, non-participant ob-servations in the gardens were carried out on week-days, on Sundays and dur-ing festivities, enabling the collection of information on social activities taking place in the gardens and on the use of the garden space. The collected data was supplemented with information acquired from interviews with the priests and from the parish websites, particularly regarding the gardens’ accessibility, use of the gardens during church services and parish fairs, parishioners’ activities, existing potential tourist attractions, and memorial sites of national signifi cance. This made it possible to determine the gardens’ social function and utility value.

The present research did not involve the adoption of a profound sociologi-cal approach including the interviewing of garden users or surveys; however, to identify the gardens’ value and meaning for the parish communities, such research should be conducted in the future.

The data collected during the litera-ture review, on-site inventory and ob-servations were classifi ed in terms of fi ve aspects: forms of social activities, forms of vegetation and ecological role, types of architectonic elements, form and material of the pathway system, and types of symbolic elements. The calcu-lations were performed using MedCalc software. Continuous variables (area of sacral complex, biologically active area) were reported as medians with a range, because they did not follow a normal distribution. The relationship between sacral complex area and biologically active area was assessed by Spearman

regression. The relations between sacral complex area as well as biologically ac-tive area and existing forms of vegeta-tion, garden social function, road sys-tem, small architectonic and sculptural elements were assessed using the Anova Kruskal–Wallis test. Values of p <0.05 were considered statistically signifi cant.

RESULTS

The church gardens of southern Warsaw

The selected church gardens represent different scales, church ranks, times of origin, and layouts. Some of them belong to historical parishes (parish of Saint Catherine in Służew with the church of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, 1238; Saint Anna in Wilanów, 13th century; Saint Elisabeth in Powsin with the Sanctuary of Our Lady Longing, 1410). The presently existing churches of these parishes replaced those formerly existing and originating from earlier times (church of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, from the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries; church of Saint Anna, 1772; Sanctuary of Our Lady Longing, 1725). Some parishes were established in the vicinity of previ-ously existing cloister churches:

Saint Boniface in Czerniaków (the Bernadine cloister and church of Saint Antonio of Padua, built in 1690–1693, founded by Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski);Saint Stephan the King in Sielce (the church of Saint Joseph the Betrothed to the Virgin Mary, built in 1926 by the Sisters of Nazareth convent);

●

●


Saint Casmir the Prince in Sielce (church built in 1932–1933 by the Resurrectionist Congregation);Saint Dominique in Służew (clois-ter built by the Dominicans in 1935, church built in 1981–1994).However, the majority of the de-

scribed parishes were established after World War II and in the second half of the 20th century. Other parishes were established at the beginning of the 21st century. In some of them the parish church has already been erected (the church dedicated to Blessed Edmund Bojanowski in Wolica, that of Saint Antonio Maria Zaccaria in Stegny, and the Temple of God’s Providence in Wilanów), while in others only tempo-rary chapels exist (those dedicated to the Mission of the Lord’s Disciples in Kępa Zawadowska, and to Saint Pio of Piet-relcina in Moczydło). The analyzed area also contains, in western Wilanów, a sacral building of national signifi cance: the Temple of God’s Providence.

Value of church gardens as part of the system of urban green areas

The gardens surrounding sacral build-ings in cities are an important part of the system of urban green areas. Usu-ally they are small biologically active spaces surrounded by dense urban de-velopment. Despite their isolation and small size, church gardens, like the other small-scale garden forms in the city such as pocket gardens, improve the quality of life [Forsyth and Musac-chio 2005, Mega 2010]. The green areas surrounding sacral buildings, as well as

●

●

other types of parks, gardens and green squares, are surfaces that are permeable to rainwater and take part in the infi ltra-tion process. These areas, despite their often fairly small size and lack of diver-sity of vegetation, can have an infl uence on improvement in climatic conditions. Research indicates that even a terrain covered only by a lawn reduces the air temperature by at least 2.3°C compared with an area of the same size without a lawn, and increases the air humidity by 6–13% [Orzeszek-Gajewska 1984]. Small-size green areas in the city, church gardens included, can also become habi-tats for insects and birds. Their ecologi-cal value increases if they are connected to the open area system of the city [For-syth and Musacchio 2005].

To analyze the value of the gardens surrounding sacral buildings as part of the system of urban green areas, the following parameters were used: sacral complex area (ha), biologically active area (%), presence of old trees, orna-mental shrubs, fl owerbeds, rosaries, lawns, low-growing plants, climbers, or-chards, vegetable and herb gardens, and relations of the garden with natural areas (Table 2). All the analyzed sacral build-ings are surrounded by designed green areas. Their size is diverse and ranges from 0.21 ha up to 5.80 ha, while the size of the majority of the sacral complexes lies between 1 and 2 ha. In the majority of the complexes the biologically active area covers 50–65% (9 churches) or 30––45% (6 churches) of the whole terrain, while in four complexes it constitutes as much as 70–90% of the total area. Only in three complexes do green areas cover


less than 20% of the whole. The median of sacral complex area is 1.12 ha (0.21––5.8 ha), while the biologically active area accounts for about 50% (15–90%). The percentage of biologically active area of the church gardens correlates with total complex area (r = 0.47, p = 0.028): the larger the sacral complex, the greater the biologically active area. Old trees are present in ten of the sacral complexes. In the historical complexes they surround

the churchyard. The church and the mass of the trees create a visible architectonic and landscape dominant. Old trees are a more common form of vegetation in the case of larger biologically active ar-eas – 64.5 (40–90)% vs. 40 (15–64)%, p = 0.01. In all sacral complexes where the church surroundings are already laid out, ornamental shrubs are planted. Coniferous species predominate, and rhododendrons are also often present

TABLE 2. Forms of vegetation

NoSacral

complex area (ha)

Biologi-cally

active area (%)

Old trees

Orna-mental shrubs

Flower-beds,

rosaries

Lawns, low-

-growing plants

Climb-ers Orchards

Vegetable and herb gardens

Relation of garden

with natural areas

Wilanów deanery1 1.20 40 + + + + + – + –2 0.80 75 + + + + – – – +3 1.00 50 + + + + – – – +4 1.13 50 + + + + – – + –5 0.21 15 – + + + – – – –6 1.89 60 – + + + – – – –7 0.50 64 + + – + – – – +8 5.80 55* – + – + – – – –9 1.80 50* × × × × × × × ×

Służew deanery10 1.10 42 – + + + – – – –11 0.72 40 – + – + – – – –12 4.3 80 + + + + + + + –13 3.41 65 + + – + – + – +14 1.9 70 + + + + + – + +15 1.2 55 – + + + + + – –

Ursynów deanery16 1.17 18 – + – + – – – +17 0.60 40 + × × × × × × +18 1.07 19 – + + + – – – –19 0.70 64 – + + + – – + –20 0.90 33 – + + + – – – +21 0.80 37* – + – + – – – –22 3.31 90 + + + + – – – –

* Approximate data for churches and gardens under construction. + presence of the element, – absence of the element, × garden under construction.


(the churches of SS Peter and Paul the Apostles and of Blessed Ladislas of Gielniow). Fourteen of the church gar-den compositions include fl owerbeds and rosaries. Usually they consist of seasonal fl owers, and sometimes also contain plants related to Christian sym-bolism, such as roses or lavender. The fl owerbeds often serve as decoration for fi gures of Mary or votive crosses. Rarely they constitute an independent composi-tion (Fig. 2). Climbers are not very com-mon in church gardens, being recorded at only four of the analyzed sites.

All existent garden compositions include lawns and low-growing plants covering the ground. Orchards and us-able gardens within the sacral complex do not occur frequently (orchards were noted in three cases, vegetable and herb gardens in fi ve cases). They are estab-lished in complexes belonging to con-vents (e.g. the garden belonging to the St. Dominique church and Dominican cloister). An orchard is also likely to be found in larger rather than smaller sacral complexes – 3.41 (1.2–4.3) ha vs. 1.07 (0.21–5.8) ha, p = 0.044). Eight of the sacral complexes are spatially connected to other valuable natural areas. Exam-

ples are the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary church garden (Saint Catherine parish), the Blessed Edmund Bojanowski church garden located on the top of the Warsaw escarpment which constitutes a natural ecological corridor, and the garden surrounding the Sanctu-ary of Our Lady Teacher of Youths (Our Lady Queen of the Believers parish) lo-cated in the vicinity of the riparian forest within the Vistula river valley. Exam-ples of church gardens compositionally related to public parks are the garden of the church of St. Anna, connected to

the historical park in Wilanów, and the garden of the Lord’s Ascension church, related to the modern John Paul II Park and further to the structure of green ar-eas in Ursynów.

Contemporary social functions of church gardens

To analyze the social functions of the gardens, the occurrence of the follow-ing items was recorded: parish fairs, festivities and concerts, leisure places, tourist attractions, playgrounds, pres-ence of animals, national memorial sites (Table 3). The contemporary function of

FIGURE 2. Examples of plant compositions in gardens surrounding sacral buildings


the gardens surrounding sacral buildings is infl uenced by many factors. Areas not accessible to the public still perform the traditional function of a recreational place for priests, monks and nuns, or are also used for the cultivation of us-able plants and fl owers and sometimes for the raising of small livestock. Such gardens exist near the clergy houses of the church of the Immaculate Concep-tion of the Virgin Mary (St. Catherine parish) and the Sanctuary of Our Lady

Longing (St. Elisabeth parish), and also next to cloisters, e.g. the Sacred Heart of Jesus convent related to the church of St. Madeleine Sophie Barat. There are also church gardens accessible only to particular groups of users, such as pu-pils of the schools located in cloister buildings. An example is the Sisters of Nazareth convent cloister related to the church of St. Joseph the Betrothed to the Virgin Mary (St. Stephan the King in Sielce parish), where the garden is

TABLE 3. Social functions of gardens

NoParish fairs, festivities

and concertsLeisure place Tourist

attraction Playgrounds Presence of animals

National memorial site

Wilanów deanery1 – – – – – –2 + + – – – –3 + + + + – –4 – + + – – +5 – – – – – –6 – + – + – –7 + + + – – –8 + + + – – +9 – – – – – –

Służew deanery10 – + – – – –11 – + – – – –12 + + + – – –13 + + + – – +14 – + – – – –15 – + – – – –

Ursynów deanery16 – – – – – –17 – – – – – –18 – – – – + –19 – + – – – –20 – + – + + –21 – + – – – –22 – + + – – –

For symbols explanations see Table 2.


accessible to the nuns and their pupils. However, the majority of the analyzed gardens are open to the public. Usually they are used as a meeting place for lo-cal residents during church services and festivities. Larger gardens also serve as a place for walking. Three of the analyzed church gardens feature playgrounds for children (Sanctuary of Our Lady Teacher of Youths, church of St. Antonio Maria Zaccaria, church of Blessed Ladislas of Gielniow), and in two gardens animals were exhibited (aviaries in the Blessed Ladislas of Gielniow church garden, and a Christmas crib with real animals in St. Thomas the Apostle church gar-den). Six parishes use the gardens to organize parish fairs and festivities (e.g. St. Casmir the Prince in Sielce church with the Resurrectionist Con-gregation, St. Dominique church and Dominican cloister) – Figure 3. Par-ish fairs or festivities take place on sites with greater biologically active area – 64.5 (50–80)% vs. 41.0 (15–90)%, p = 0.02. Also, a biologically active area promotes leisure activities and tourism.

The gardens with relatively larger biolog-ically active areas are likely to serve as local leisure places – 57.5 (33–90) % vs.29.5 (15–50) %, p = 0.005) and tourist attractions – 64 (50–90)% vs. 40 (15––75)%, p = 0.02.

The vicinity of some sacral buildings is also used as a location for national memorial sites. Examples include the monument commemorating the martyrs of communist terror from 1944 to 1956, located within the Immaculate Concep-tion of the Virgin Mary church complex (St. Catherine parish), and plaques in the wall surrounding the garden of St. An-tonio of Padua church (St. Boniface in Czerniaków parish) commemorating the Bernardines and soldiers from the 14th regiment of Lancers of Jazłowiec who died in 1939 and local inhabitants killed and murdered during World War II. Also, the Temple of God’s Providence performs the function of a national me-morial site as the location of graves of prominent Poles. The temple is still un-der construction, and so it is diffi cult to say whether this function will also be re-fl ected in the surrounding garden.

FIGURE 3. Social functions of gardens surrounding sacral buildings. Dominicans’ Fair within the Do-minican cloister complex, and aviaries in the Blessed Ladislas of Gielniow church garden


Small architectonic forms as an element of the composition of church gardens

To analyze small architectonic forms as an element of the composition of gar-dens surrounding sacral buildings, the following parameters were used: fences, gates, benches, lighting elements, refuse bins and other small architectonic forms (Table 4). All analyzed sacral complexes where the church surroundings are al-ready laid out have a formal fence. Ten of them have a visible architectonic gate

which emphasizes the place of crossing of the border between the Profane and the Sacred. The gate is usually situated on the main axis of the church. Sacral complexes with visible architectonic gate include both historical temples (e.g. the mid-19th-century gate with the Lubomirski family shield in front of the church of St. Antonio of Padua) and modern churches (e.g. the gate in front of the Lord’s Offertory church). In the other sacral buildings, the entrance to the church leads directly from the street (Fig. 4).

TABLE 4. Small architectonic elements

No Fences Gates Benches Lighting elements Refuse bins Other small architectonic forms

Wilanów deanery1 + + + – – Fountain2 + – + – – –3 + – + + + Wooden bridge, artifi cial pond 4 + + + + + –5 + – – + – –6 + – + – + –7 + – – + – Baroque vases8 × × × × × ×9 × × × × × ×

Służew deanery10 + + + + – St. Joseph’s hut, granite and concrete fl owerpots11 + – – – – –12 + – + + – Bower

13 + + + + – Glass construction over the descent to the funeral chapel and the church cellar, concrete fl owerpots

14 + + + + – Artifi cial pond

15 + + + + + Lapidary, concrete fl owerpots, wooden trellis for climbers, bower

Ursynów deanery16 + + – – – Well, concrete fl owerpots17 × × × × × ×18 + – – – – Stone fl owerpots19 + + – – – Bower20 + – – + – Aviaries, concrete and wooden fl owerpots21 + + + – + –22 + + – – – –



Among the furnishing elements in the analyzed church gardens, the most fre-quent are benches (present in 11 of the sacral complexes) and lighting elements (present in 10 cases). Usually they take a form typical for urban green areas. Only a few complexes contain indi-vidually designed furnishing elements. Examples include lighting elements stylized as gas-lamps in the St. Antonio of Padua church garden, and benches decorated with forged elements in the shape of vines in the St. Antonio Maria Zaccaria church garden (Barnabite Fa-thers parish). Refuse bins are found only in the sacral complexes where the gar-

den occupies a larger area, and indicate that the garden is used not only during church services but also for other types of activities.

Among other small architectural forms, the most frequent are fl owerpots with seasonal fl owers, perennials and small shrubs. They emphasize the church entrance or the location of Marian fi g-ures, fi gures of saints and crosses. Rarely, wooden bowers or trellises for climbers are found in the gardens (Fig. 5).

Water elements are not very common in the sacral gardens (found in only two cases). Usually they have the form of

FIGURE 4. Examples of gates leading to sacral complexes. The churches of St. Antonio of Padua and the Lord’s Ascension

FIGURE 5. Examples of small architectonic forms in gardens surrounding sacral buildings. Bench next to the church of St. Antonio Maria Zaccaria, and fl owerpots alongside the church of the Lord’s Ascension


a small artifi cial pond located near fi g-ures of Mary (the church of St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, Sacred Heart of Jesus con-vent) or chapels dedicated to the Virgin Mary (Sanctuary of Our Lady Teacher of Youths). Near the Lord’s Ascension church a stone well has been built, per-forming only a symbolic function. An unusual element present in a sacral gar-den is the aviaries located by the church of Blessed Ladislas of Gielniow.

Pathways and pavement types in church gardens

To analyze pathways and pavement types in the gardens surrounding sacral buildings, the following parameters were used: pathway surrounding the church, developed pathway system, pavement type, and square in front of the church entrance (Table 5). The development of a pathway system in a church garden usually depends on the garden’s size.

TABLE 5. Pathways and pavement types

NoPathway

surrounding the church

Developed pathway system

Pavement type Square in front of the church entrance

Wilanów deanery1 – – Grey concrete sett, gravel –

2 – + Grey concrete sett with light-grey ornament, concrete paving –

3 + + Grey and light-grey concrete sett with patterns +4 + + Grey and red concrete sett +5 + – Concrete paving –

6 + + Grey and red concrete sett, granite sett decora-tive elements +

7 + – Concrete paving +8 × × × ×9 × × × ×

Służew deanery10 + – Grey and red concrete sett +11 + – Grey and red concrete sett –12 + + Concrete sett, granite sett, concrete paving +13 + + Concrete sett, stones, concrete paving +14 + + Grey concrete sett –15 + + Granite sett, grey concrete sett +

Ursynów deanery16 – – Grey concrete sett –17 × × × ×18 + – Granite sett, concrete paving +19 + + Grey and red concrete sett +20 + + Grey and red concrete sett +21 – – Grey concrete sett –22 + – Concrete paving +



In larger-scale gardens, apart from the pathway surrounding the church, there is an area with a well-developed system of paths for walking. This serves not only religious purposes, but is also used as recreational green area. Better developed pathway systems are found in the gardens with larger biologically active area – 62 (33–80)% vs. 40 (15–90)%, p = 0.037. Fifteen of the analyzed sacral complexes have a pathway around the church, most-ly used during processional church serv-ices. Ten of the complexes, apart from the road around the church, also have

a well-developed system of walking paths. In the majority of the complexes, the path system is of informal character. An example is the relatively large-scale garden belonging to the church of SS Peter and Paul the Apostles. Geometri-cal garden path compositions are found less frequently. An example is the gar-den layout in front of the façade of the church of St. Antonio of Padua.

In the analyzed sacral complexes, concrete sett pavement predominates. This type of pavement is commonly used in city public spaces. Often the pave-ment also contains colored decoration, which emphasizes the space in front of

the church, the crossing of pathways or the location of a symbolic element. Con-crete sett pavement is also used in the surroundings of some historical church-es, such as the church of St. Antonio of Padua. Granite sett paving is notably less frequent, being found in only four of the complexes. Granite sett may be used only for decorative elements in a concrete sett pavement (e.g. in the St. Antonio Maria Zaccaria church garden – Fig. 6) or as the sole pave-ment material (e.g. in the gardens of the churches of SS Peter and Paul the

Apostles, St. Thomas the Apostle and St. Dominique). In seven of the analyzed sacral complexes several types of pav-ing occur. An example is the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary church garden (Saint Catherine parish), where three types of pavement are used: con-crete sett, stones, and concrete paving.

Twelve of the analyzed sacral com-plexes have a visible square in front of the church’s main entrance. Often this place is also marked with a pattern in the paving. Only the churches located directly adjacent to the street lack this compositional element.

FIGURE 6. System of pathways in St. Antonio Maria Zaccaria church garden


Decorative elements with symbolic meaning in church gardens

The garden surrounding a sacral build-ing should favor an atmosphere of self--concentration, prayer, and feeling of God’s closeness. In order to achieve such an atmosphere, symbolic elements are located in the garden. These include fi gures of Mary or crosses commemo-rating the most important religious and spiritual events in the church or parish, such as holy missions. On the crosses lo-cated in the churchyard, tablets with the dates of each holy mission are placed. Often the fi gures of Mary in the church-yard have a commemorative character or have been founded by a particular fam-ily belonging to the parish as a supplica-tion for benediction. In the churchyard also other religious fi gures appear, such as statues of Jesus Christ and fi gures of saints related to the church or par-ish. Apart from the fi gures of Mary, in many churchyards chapels and grottos for the Virgin Mary have been estab-lished. Most frequently they are inspired by the grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, where several apparitions of Mary have been reported. Near some grottos, small artifi cial ponds have also been estab-lished. These water elements symbol-ize the spring which was discovered in the grotto of Lourdes. In these grottos a statue of the Virgin Mary is placed on a mound made of stones. Usually the statue holds a rosary in one hand, as a reminder of the rosary prayer. The grottos are decorated with fl owers and candles. In May and October, they are used to conduct the Mary’s services.

Figures of Mary are found in 13 of the sacral complexes where the garden com-position has already been established (Table 6). These are common elements in both historical and modern church gardens. The location of the fi gures of Mary is always emphasized by a compo-sition of fl owers, shrubs or fl owerpots, and sometimes also by water elements. There are also some commemorative fi gures, such as the statue of the Virgin Mary from the Warsaw ghetto in the Im-maculate Conception of the Virgin Mary church garden (Saint Catherine parish) which witnessed the baptism of nearly 5,000 Jews from the Ghetto. Another ex-ample is the statue of the Virgin Mary from the January Uprising period, locat-ed near the church of Our Lady the Moth-er of Mercy (Congregation of Marianist Brothers and Priests parish), donated by a parishioner. Also, some fi gures have been founded by a family belonging to a particular parish. An example is the fi g-ure of Our Lady of Perpetual Help from 1902 in the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary church garden (Saint Catherine parish). In four of the ana-lyzed sacral complexes, chapels in the form of a grotto or in the form of small buildings devoted to the Virgin Mary are present. Examples of such symbolic elements include the grotto established near the church of St. Casmir the Prince in Sielce (Resurrectionist Congregation) (Fig. 7) and the chapel built at the site of Mary apparitions near the Sanctuary of Our Lady Teacher of Youths (Our Lady Queen of the Believers parish). Within the analyzed area there are also fi gures of Jesus Christ (e.g. near the church of


SS Peter and Paul the Apostles) and fi gures of saints (e.g. the chapel with a fi gure of Saint Paul, the patron of the convent, near the church of St. Antonio Maria Zaccaria in the Barnabite Fathers parish). A distinctive symbolic ele-ment is the sculpture of Pietá located in St. Thomas the Apostle church garden.

Votive or missionary crosses occur in almost all the complexes. Stations of

the Cross or shrines along the wall sur-rounding the churchyard are found in only two of the analyzed complexes. The Stations of the Cross have been con-structed alongside the historical church of St. Anna in Wilanów. Representations of shrines from Sanctuaries of Mary in many parts of the world have been es-tablished in the wall surrounding the Lord’s Offertory church (Fig. 7).

TABLE 6. Sculptural elements and small architectonic forms with symbolic meaning

No

Marian fi gures and fi gures of

saints

Votive crosses

Preserved historical

graves

Stations of the Cross/shrines

along wallOther symbolic elements

Wilanów deanery1 – + – – –2 + + – – Grotto of Mary, shrine

3 + + – – Chapel commemorating the Marian apparitions

4 + + – – –5 – – – – –6 + + – – –7 + + – + Grotto of Mary8 × + – – –9 × × × × –

Służew deanery10 + + – – –

11 – + – – Grotto of Mary surrounded by fi gures of the Apostles

12 + + – – –13 + + – – –14 + + – – –15 + + – – –

Ursynów deanery16 + + – – –17 – + – – –18 – + – – Sculpture of Pietá19 + + – + –20 + + – – –21 + – – – –22 – + – – –



DISCUSSION

The research has confi rmed that histori-cally established models for the layout of the surroundings of sacral buildings are still adopted in contemporary sacral complexes, although the modern ways in which church gardens are used lead to the introduction of some new elements.

These traditional models include ele-ments such as the visible square in front of the church’s main entrance, which re-ferred to the antique forum [D’Alfonso and Samss 1997], the pathway surround-ing the church, and gates and fences. The pathway surrounding the church is still an important element used during Eucharistic and resurrection processions and parish fairs. The square in front of the church is sometimes reduced to a small distance separating the temple from the street. Fences are of symbolic rather than utilitarian signifi cance, serv-ing to distinguish the sacred from the non-sacred [Bis and Bis 2013]. Fences and gates are often established accord-ing to individual designs and include sacral and symbolic elements.

In the majority of the analyzed sac-ral complexes, biologically active areas

cover 50–65% of the whole terrain. They are usually connected to larger green ar-eas within the city, which increases their ecological value, since they constitute a part of Warsaw’s natural system. They improve local climatic conditions, and create a habitat for small fauna. Accord-ing to Cooper [2012], towards the end of the 20th century the value of churchyards for wildlife was recognized in England. Among principal habitats of importance that he mentions are old trees, which are also a common form of vegetation in the church gardens analyzed here.

The analyzed church gardens pro-vide convenient conditions for outdoor leisure and recreation for local inhab-itants. This is especially important in densely built city districts. They are usually easily accessible and have a con-venient location, frequently in the centre of the parish. Their composition, devel-oped pathways, and presence of children playgrounds, aviaries and small archi-tectonic elements prove that they have important social value for the local com-munity. Among the cases analyzed there are three where national memorials ex-ist. These have particular value for local

FIGURE 7. Figures of Mary at the churches of St. Madeleine Sophie Barat and St. Casmir the Prince in Sielce. The Stations of the Cross at the church of St. Anna in Wilanów, and one of the shrines in the wall surrounding the Lord’s Offertory church


inhabitants, being regularly visited by parishioners and decorated with fl owers and candles. A similar relationship be-tween parishioners and memorial plac-es in churchyards is noted by Cooper [2012], who emphasizes the great value of the graves located within churchyards for the local community.

The only elements of symbolic reli-gious meaning are sculptural elements and small architectonic forms. The con-temporarily designed church gardens usually have a secular composition and do not include many plants with Chris-tian symbolism, apart from the roses which usually accompany the fi gures of Mary.

CONCLUSIONS

Historically established models of the layout of the surroundings of sac-ral buildings, which emphasize the sacred nature of the place, are still adopted in contemporary sacral com-plexes despite changes in their func-tion (e.g. elimination of cemeteries within churchyards). These models include elements such as the visible square in front of the church’s main entrance, a pathway surrounding the church, gates and fences. The analyzed gardens surrounding sacral buildings perform a signifi cant role in the social life of local inhabit-ants. They are places of regular meet-ings at times of church services, they serve as places of leisure and recrea-tion for various users, and three of them also contain national memorial sites.

1.

2.

The green areas surrounding the an-alyzed sacral buildings, with areas ranging from 0.21 up to 5.80 ha, are an important element of the system of urban green areas. They improve local climatic conditions, provide a habitat for small fauna, and create conven-ient conditions for outdoor leisure and recreation for local inhabitants. In the majority of the analyzed sacral com-plexes, the biologically active area accounts for 50–65% of the total. The character of sculptural detail in the analyzed gardens results from their sacral ideological signifi cance, while small architectonic elements (benches, refuse bins, lamps) are of generic character. Fences and gates are often established according to in-dividual designs and refl ect the sacral, symbolic character of the place. Developed systems of pathways, found in half of the analyzed sacral complexes, as well as children’s play-grounds, aviaries and sophisticated compositions of plants, demonstrate that the function of the sacral garden has been intentionally broadened to include a recreational aspect.The church garden constitutes an im-portant part of the composition of the sacral complex. It should be designed together with the church building and parish buildings, allowing the achieve-ment of an integral composition with appropriate order and iconological sense. Because of its specifi city, its design and management should be the subject of consultation with clerics, artists, architects and ecologists, so as to avoid unfavorable decisions.

3.

4.

5.

6.


The church garden composition pro-vides a kind of distance between the space of the Profane and the church building interior. It should therefore follow a designed iconological pro-gram including sculptural elements, small architectural forms, and plants with Christian symbolism.

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Streszczenie: Ogród przy obiekcie sakralnym jako element kształtujący jakość życia w mieście – na wybranych przykładach. Celem badań było roz-poznanie form współczesnego ogrodu przy obiek-cie sakralnym w mieście i ustalenie jak obecność tego typu obiektów wpływa na podniesienie ja-kości życia mieszkańców oraz stwierdzenie na ile wykształcony w średniowieczu model tego typu założenia jest współcześnie aktualny. Pole ba-dawcze stanowiły ogrody przy 22 kościołach, na terenie trzech dekanatów południowej Warszawy (wilanowskiego, służewskiego i ursynowskiego). Wpływ przebadanych obiektów na podniesienie jakości życia mieszkańców przejawia się w kil-ku aspektach: jako historycznie ukształtowanych przestrzeni modlitwy i kontemplacji, istotnych

dla życia duchowego mieszkańców, jako terenów biologicznie czynnych, zwiększających biolo-giczny potencjał miasta, jako miejsc rekreacji, jako miejsc pełniących funkcję dominant w kra-jobrazie miasta i budujących tożsamość lokalną. W wyniku przeprowadzonych badań ustalono, że większość ogrodów kościelnych pełni funk-cję miejsca spotkań okolicznych mieszkańców. W większości zespołów sakralnych powierzchnia biologicznie czynna zajmuje 50–65% terenu. Bli-sko połowa zespołów sakralnych jest powiązana przestrzennie z innymi terenami przyrodniczy-mi. Wśród elementów wyposażenia w ogrodach przykościelnych najczęściej pojawiają się ławki, elementy oświetlenia i donice – elementy typowe również dla innych obiektów zieleni urządzo-nej. Większość badanych obiektów sakralnych ma obejście wokół kościoła, wykorzystywane w trakcie nabożeństw o charakterze procesyjnym, często rozbudowane o bardziej skomplikowany układ dróg spacerowych. W przeszło połowie zespołów sakralnych zlokalizowane są elementy rzeźbiarskie i małej architektury, związane z reli-gijną symboliką miejsca.

Agriculture(Agricultural and Forest Engineering)

Animal ScienceForestry and Wood Technology

Horticulture and Landscape ArchitectureLand Reclamation

Annals of Warsaw University of Life Sciences were originally published in 1957 as Zeszyty Naukowe SGGW (Scienti-fi c Fascicles of SGGW). In 1980 the na-me was changed to Annals of Warsaw University of Life Sciences.The Annals (5 subject series) are publi-shed once or twice a year and will carry pre-viously unpublished papers that are mainly in English, but also in French, German or Russian, followed by a short summary in Polish. Manuscripts for publication should be typewritten and submitted to the Warsaw

University of Life Sciences Press in two copies. Papers submitted for consideration by the Editorial board should not exceed 0.5 of a printed sheet (about 11 pages includ-ing illustrations, and should consist of the following elements: 1) name and surname of the author, 2) title of the paper, 3) abstract (about 20 lines), 4) text of the paper, 5) date when the paper was sent to the Warsaw Uni-versity of Life Sciences Press and mailing address of the author, 6) summary (one page), 7) tables and fi gures with captions. Authors receive twenty fi ve offprints free of change.

of Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW...e-mail: [email protected] ISSN 1898-8784 Druk:...

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