Biology and Chemistry of Jerusalem Artichoke: Helianthus tuberosus L. PDF

Preface

Helianthus tuberosus is in its own right a fascinating species from the standpoint of plant biology. Superimposed on this is an unusually colorful history, common names (Jerusalem artichoke and topinambour) that have virtually nothing to do with the plant, and unique biological and chemical properties that distinguish it from other crops. The plant has been and continues to be far more appreciated in Europe than in the United States, where it originated. Indicative of its popularity is the fact that there have been approximately 35 monographs and books published on the crop since the first in 1789, predominantly in French, German, and Russian, with the last major book being in Hungarian by I'So in 1955. While modest compared to the major field crops, there is a wealth of scientific publications on the Jerusalem artichoke that has increased progressively from approximately 400 titles in 1932 to 1300 in 1957 to over several thousand today.

Our objective with this book was to summarize our current understanding of the basic biology and chemistry of this unique crop. We have cited a diverse and representative cross section of publications, with the intent of providing those interested in delving further into this underexploited resource ready access to the literature and patents. Regrettably, due to limited resources for translations, we have not cited as many Eastern European contributions as we would have liked, some of which are by scientists who were pioneers in Jerusalem artichoke research. It has been over 50 years since the last major textbook on the species, and it is our hope that the information provided will spur additional interest and further development.

The authors acknowledge a number of individuals who have been instrumental in developing the information for this work, in particular Betty Schroeder, who collected and organized reprints of the literature in addition to coordinating a number of research projects over the years. We also acknowledge Drs. Gerard Soja and Chris Stevens for reviewing sections of the text and Tatyana Gavrilenko, Yuriy Posudin, Zana Somda, and Marie-Michele Pratt for assisting with translations. We also acknowledge Will Bonsall and Drs. L. Frese, B. Honermeier, and F.A. Kiehn for providing germplasm for research purposes. For information on genetic resources held in collections worldwide, we are extremely grateful to Drs. Laura Marek (U.S.), Hervé Serieys (France), Helmut Knuepffer and Andreas Börner (Germany), Gitte Kjeldsen Bjørn (Denmark), Jovanka Atlagic (Serbia and Montenegro), and Dallas Kessler (Canada).