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Biodiversity (Conservation) of Plums In Slavonia Through Tradition of Plum Brandy Making

Traditional plum cultivars, grown in Slavonia, represent a mixture of several species or subspecies, including: European plum (P. domestica L.), mirabelles (P. insititia var. syriaca L.), and damsons (P. insititia var. damascena L.). First plum orchards were planted in the 3th and 4th century near the river Sava and Drava by Roman emperors. Plum brandy has been produced for 300 years and made with traditional varieties of plums. The production of plum brandy “Slavonska šljivovica” has significantly contributed to the preservation of traditional plum cultivars in Slavonia, whereas the fruits of these genotypes are used for distillation. It is believed that these traditional cultivars provide characteristic aroma and authenticity of traditional plum brandy. In Slavonia between the years of 1885 and 1890, average plum yield was 672, 631 metric cents (1 m.c. = 100 kg). In 1885 production of plum brandy was 27, 163 hl, and in 1890 4 453 hl. This long-term production and the traditional way of plum cultivation have resulted with high genetic and morphological diversity of plums that have been grown in Slavonia. In the experimental orchard of the Institute of Pomology (Croatian Centre for Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs), located in Donja Zelina, Croatia, 18 of analysed varieties have been planted. The same are registered in the List of varieties of fruit species and five of them are going to be included in process of production of plant material e.g. buds for grafting.

plum, Slavonian plum brandy, tradition, biodiversity

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