"Colture no food: la Robinia, specie multifunzionale per l'Apicoltura e l'Ambiente" - in: Miele e Biomassa- l'importanza della robinia.

Robinia pseudoacacia is a leguminous deciduous tree native to the southeastern United States. It is commonly found in disturbed areas such as old fields, degraded woods, forest edges and roadsides. Like others leguminous species is able to fix atmospheric nitrogen and enrich the soil fertility. The wood of R. pseudoacacia is valued for its durability and high fuel value. The tree also provides good forage for bees. R.pseudoacacia has been used for ornamental purposes. Its fast growth and great potential for environment restoration have drawn attention to woody biomass plantation. It reproduces vigorously by suckers produced by roots and stumps. Otherwise the method of micropropagation allows to produce plants rapidly, to minimize somaclonal variation and to improve germplasm conservation and to facilitate plant breeding programs. A research was carried out to improve the micropropagation techniques for R. pseudoacacia. In the experiment two media were tested, one for in vitro stabilization “STAB” and the other for proliferation “ROB” of the explants. The explants were collected from two mother plants differing for the presence of thorns. Furthermore in the research the efficiency of R. pseudoacacia as species for biomass production was assessed by comparison with poplar and ailanto widely used in the production chain of biomass energy. The comparison showed that the R. gave better results as the quantity of biomass produced and as the moisture content of wood. Therefore R. is a viable alternative to the cultivation of poplar, though less valuable in terms of aesthetics is much more valuable in terms of economic, environmental protection and saving of water. It has little demand in terms of nutrients (nitrogen-fixing legume) grows very rapidly and the stumps show great vitality.