New Chinese Bellflower Cultivars 'Zhonggeng 1' , 'Zhonggeng 2' and 'Zhonggeng 3' Developed by Using the Male Sterile Line
The new Chinese bellflower cultivars 'Zhonggeng 1', 'Zhonggeng 2' and 'Zhonggeng 3' were the first generation hybrids which were developed using the cytoplasmic male sterile line. The hybrids have strong growth vigor with high yield of medicinal roots and seedling blight resistance. For the two-year harvested roots, the content of the total saponins and saponin D were 2.45% and 0.092% of 'Zhonggeng 1', 2.89% and 0.097% of 'Zhonggeng2\ 2.59% and 0.077% of'Zhonggeng 3' . 'Zhonggeng 1' with fewer lateral roots was suitable for the use of decoction pieces processing. 'Zhonggeng 2' with higher saponins content was suitable for the use of extraction processing. 'Zhonggeng 3' with lower crude fiber content was suitable for both edible and medicinal usage.