• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.209-214
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• 2012

Indigo crop, Persicaria tinctoria H. Gross is an annual plant containing natural colorant, the blue dye indigo, and local cultivars had been cultivated to produce natural indigo for textile dyeing in Korea since ancient times. Naju No. 2 is a new mass-selected line from the mother population, Naju Local cultivar. In this study, two breeding lines of Naju Local and Naju No. 2, have been cultivated in four different locations, the South regions of Korea, to compare plant growth and yield characteristics between two lines. Naju No. 2 was higher in plant height, and Naju Local has more 1st branches. Naju No. 2 has larger leaf area and higher width/length ratio of leaf, showing the round leaf type as morphological stable character without regional differences. Though there was considerable regional variation in fresh and dry top weight of harvested plant, the significant difference of plant weight between two lines were not shown. The ratio of leaf to total shoot of dry weight of Naju No. 2 was higher than one of Naju Local, indicating that Naju No. 2 has better yielding of colorant which is synthesized mostly in leaf. Naju No. 2 contained more Niram (crude indigo extract) and indigo, and showed much blueness at dyeing of silk using fresh leaves than Naju Local. We concluded that a new line, Naju No. 2 could be a superior cultivar due to having higher leaf yield and better quality of natural colorant than Naju local cultivar.