Horticultural hybrid development of edible terrestrial orchids for verifiable sustainable trade

IntroductionEdible terrestrial orchids are endangered worldwide due to overharvesting and illegal trade. One method to distinguish illegally traded wild-collected orchids from sustainably harvested and legally traded cultivated ones is to artificially create hybrids that do not occur naturally and c...

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Main Authors: Susanne Masters, Diego Bogarín, Juan Viruel, Rogier van Vugt, Tinde van Andel, Hugo J. de Boer, Barbara Gravendeel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-05-01
Series:Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2025.1526533/full
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author Susanne Masters
Susanne Masters
Diego Bogarín
Diego Bogarín
Juan Viruel
Rogier van Vugt
Tinde van Andel
Tinde van Andel
Tinde van Andel
Hugo J. de Boer
Hugo J. de Boer
Barbara Gravendeel
Barbara Gravendeel
author_facet Susanne Masters
Susanne Masters
Diego Bogarín
Diego Bogarín
Juan Viruel
Rogier van Vugt
Tinde van Andel
Tinde van Andel
Tinde van Andel
Hugo J. de Boer
Hugo J. de Boer
Barbara Gravendeel
Barbara Gravendeel
author_sort Susanne Masters
collection DOAJ
description IntroductionEdible terrestrial orchids are endangered worldwide due to overharvesting and illegal trade. One method to distinguish illegally traded wild-collected orchids from sustainably harvested and legally traded cultivated ones is to artificially create hybrids that do not occur naturally and can be morphologically recognized. Creating artificial orchid hybrids is relatively simple. As a result, thousands of artificial orchid hybrids have already been registered with the Royal Horticultural Society, but predominantly for ornamental purposes. We identified a potential hybrid parental pool for edible orchids from terrestrial species that possess desirable traits from both the grower and consumer perspective.MethodFrom the pool of candidate species, we evaluated the possibility of crosses producing viable seed based on phylogenetic distance metrics, based on matK and nrITS sequences of 435 species. Subsequently, we checked the accuracy of our prediction of hybrid compatibility against registered records of hybrids on the International Orchid Register and by experimental production of hybrids.ResultsOur results show that phylogenetic distance can indeed be used as a proxy for predicting hybrid compatibility in orchids.DiscussionPotential of creating edible orchid hybrids for sustainable trade has not yet been fully exploited.
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publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
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spelling doaj-art-acd4ce366acc4aeea21debd1935100ac2025-08-20T02:26:28ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems2571-581X2025-05-01910.3389/fsufs.2025.15265331526533Horticultural hybrid development of edible terrestrial orchids for verifiable sustainable tradeSusanne Masters0Susanne Masters1Diego Bogarín2Diego Bogarín3Juan Viruel4Rogier van Vugt5Tinde van Andel6Tinde van Andel7Tinde van Andel8Hugo J. de Boer9Hugo J. de Boer10Barbara Gravendeel11Barbara Gravendeel12Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, NetherlandsInstitute of Biology, Leiden University, Leiden, NetherlandsNaturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, NetherlandsLankester Botanical Garden, University of Costa Rica, Cartago, Costa RicaRoyal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United KingdomHortus Botanicus, Leiden University, Leiden, NetherlandsNaturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, NetherlandsInstitute of Biology, Leiden University, Leiden, NetherlandsBiosystematics Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, NetherlandsNaturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, NetherlandsNatural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo, NorwayNaturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, NetherlandsRadboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences, Nijmegen, NetherlandsIntroductionEdible terrestrial orchids are endangered worldwide due to overharvesting and illegal trade. One method to distinguish illegally traded wild-collected orchids from sustainably harvested and legally traded cultivated ones is to artificially create hybrids that do not occur naturally and can be morphologically recognized. Creating artificial orchid hybrids is relatively simple. As a result, thousands of artificial orchid hybrids have already been registered with the Royal Horticultural Society, but predominantly for ornamental purposes. We identified a potential hybrid parental pool for edible orchids from terrestrial species that possess desirable traits from both the grower and consumer perspective.MethodFrom the pool of candidate species, we evaluated the possibility of crosses producing viable seed based on phylogenetic distance metrics, based on matK and nrITS sequences of 435 species. Subsequently, we checked the accuracy of our prediction of hybrid compatibility against registered records of hybrids on the International Orchid Register and by experimental production of hybrids.ResultsOur results show that phylogenetic distance can indeed be used as a proxy for predicting hybrid compatibility in orchids.DiscussionPotential of creating edible orchid hybrids for sustainable trade has not yet been fully exploited.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2025.1526533/fullCITESchikandasalepwildlife tradeorchids (Orchidaceae)
spellingShingle Susanne Masters
Susanne Masters
Diego Bogarín
Diego Bogarín
Juan Viruel
Rogier van Vugt
Tinde van Andel
Tinde van Andel
Tinde van Andel
Hugo J. de Boer
Hugo J. de Boer
Barbara Gravendeel
Barbara Gravendeel
Horticultural hybrid development of edible terrestrial orchids for verifiable sustainable trade
Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems
CITES
chikanda
salep
wildlife trade
orchids (Orchidaceae)
title Horticultural hybrid development of edible terrestrial orchids for verifiable sustainable trade
title_full Horticultural hybrid development of edible terrestrial orchids for verifiable sustainable trade
title_fullStr Horticultural hybrid development of edible terrestrial orchids for verifiable sustainable trade
title_full_unstemmed Horticultural hybrid development of edible terrestrial orchids for verifiable sustainable trade
title_short Horticultural hybrid development of edible terrestrial orchids for verifiable sustainable trade
title_sort horticultural hybrid development of edible terrestrial orchids for verifiable sustainable trade
topic CITES
chikanda
salep
wildlife trade
orchids (Orchidaceae)
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2025.1526533/full
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