Perilla crops and their related weedy types collected in Korea

Abstract

Perilla is an oil and vegetable crop growing in Korea, Japan, and China. We have conducted a field expedition for collecting Perilla germplasm in Korea in 1998 and 2002. P. frutescens var. frutescens was found to be grown and cultivated in large scale throughout the country, whereas var. crispa was not seen. Weedy types of both var. frutescens and var. crispa were often found in roadsides, waste lands and areas around the farmer’s fields. Total number of collection was 176 with 123 accessions of cultivated type of var. frutescens, 33 accessions of weedy type of var. frutescens, and 20 accessions of weedy type of var. crispa. The accessions of cultivated var. frutescens had four different seed coat colors; white, gray, brown and dark brown. Brown and dark brown types were more frequently found than the white type and distributed from north to south of Korea, whereas the white type was mainly found in southern part of Korea. The seeds of cultivated var. frutescens were either soft or hard and large in size (> 2mm), whereas seeds of both weedy types were small and hard with dark brown color. The accessions collected will be useful for preserving genetic diversity of this crop for further breeding programs of Perilla crops.