Astashov A.N., Bochkareva Yu.V., Rodina T.V., Kireeva O.V.

Prospects of milk thistle breeding (Silybum marianum L.)

Currently, the world medical practice is focused on the use of medicinal and preventive preparations of plant origin. Milk thistle is a very valuable agricultural crop, which is interesting for medicine and has great opportunities and prospects for theoretical and practical study. Interest in milk thistle as a medicinal plant is increasing. However, information about this culture is very fragmentary and scattered, most publications are of a popular scientific nature, and issues in the field of breeding, seed production and technology of cultivation of milk thistle are not widely studied. This article is devoted to the consideration of questions about the peculiarities of cultivation of existing varieties of milk thistle, as well as about the prospects for creating new breeding achievements for this crop, since obtaining environmentally friendly pharmaceutical raw materials is a strategic task of medicinal plant growing in the Russian Federation.

Keywords: MILK THISTLE, SEED PRODUCTION, BREEDING, STATE REGISTER, MEDICINAL RAW MATERIALS, PRODUCTIVITY, OIL CONTENT