Husk tomato (Physalis philadelphica Lam.) a source of functional food and medicinal compounds, has attracted renewed interest for production in temperate zones. Field-grown husk tomato yield and fruit properties and their relationship with soil chemistry and temperature were studied in the south of West Siberia, Russia, at five experimental sites. At each site, a microplot experiment with two cultivars was conducted. Basic soil chemical properties and fruit pH and dry matter, total carbon, nitrogen, and ascorbic acid content were determined. Both cultivars grew and yielded very well, producing on average 70 fruits, or 1.46 kg, per plant, with 14 mg ascorbic acid per 100 g fresh weight, 9.0% dry matter, and juice pH of 4.1. Variation in environmental conditions among sites was the major factor determining production and fruit property variation, with cultivar biology accounting for 10%. The cultivars responded differently to some soil properties, but generally their yield and fruit quality depended on soil pH and labile phosphorous and potassium. Thus, husk tomato has remarkable capacity for vigorous yields in unprotected conditions in West Siberia, despite air and soil temperatures that are much lower than in its region of origin. Detailed studies are needed to elucidate its response to varying solar radiation and atmospheric precipitation.

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Composition of seed mycobiota of 87 accessions of asparagus vigna (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) from the N. I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR) and the Bioresource Scientific Collection of the Central Siberian Botanical Garden (CSBG SB RAS) UNU No.USU 440534 have been investigated on 2018-2019. Seeds of accessions were grown on the south of Western Siberia (54 ° N lat. 83 ° E) in the unheated plastic film greenhouse and examined for fungal microbiota in the Central Siberian Botanical Garden and Novosibirsk State Agrarian University (Novosibirsk). The seed infestation of micromycetes was determined according to GOST 12044-93 (similar to common beans) using the methods of mycological analysis and the Petri dish moist chambers, also on Chapek and KDA media. The following pathogens were assigned to the permanent inhabitants of mycocenosis of asparagus vigna seeds: Fusarium spp., Mucor mucedo, Penicillium spp., Rhizopus spp., Aspergillus niger, to the occasional – Alternaria spp. Botritis sinerea and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum occur moderately and intermittently in the samples of vigna seeds.The highest frequency of occurrence and infestation of asparagus vigna seeds were found for Aspergillus niger (min-max: 30-100% and 0-100%, respectively), the minimum for Alternaria spp. (0-10%).

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Under conditions of low temperature, seedlings of heat-loving vegetable crops are more strongly affected by various pathogenic micromycetes, and the content of photosynthetic pigments in the leaves of plants decreases. Using fungicides cannot constantly interrupt the spread of pathogens and the death of plants. The authors determined the effect of the hardening regime, including the four-day keeping of germinating seeds of Momordica (Momordica charantia L.), asparagus cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.), kiwano (Cucumis metuliferus E. Mey. ex Naudin), Benincasa (Benincasa hispida (Thunb.) Cogn.) and anguria (Cucumis anguria L.) at a variable temperature during the day - hardening (10℃) at night and optimal (30℃) during the day for keeping pigments in leaves and damage to seedlings by pathogenic micromycetes at low temperatures (6–15 ℃). This effect allowed authors to assess the therm adaptive potential in experiments conducted in 2018–2022. Microbiological analysis of the soil on PDA medium (potato dextrose agar) showed the presence of Fusarium spp. in the amount of 290 CFU/g of earth. The trap method revealed the presence of Pythium Pringsh in the soil. The most significant reduction in the death of seedlings was achieved in seedlings of anguria - 29 times, Kivano, Benincasa and cowpea - 2.5, 2.0 and 1.3 times, respectively. Periodic hypothermia in 3 cultures out of 5 - Kiwano, Cowpea, and Benincasa - reduced the ascorbic acid content in the leaves by 17%, 36% and 3%. The range of photosynthetic pigments - chlorophylls (a + b) in the variant with hardening increased, respectively, in 4 (except cowpea) crops out of 5 by 8–40%, and carotenoids in 3 crops - Momordica, Anguria and Benincasa - by 46, 3 and 8% respectively. The ratio of chlorophylls a/b in most cultures, both in control (at the optimum temperature) and after low-temperature exposure, was close to 2.0. Only in Anguria did this ratio decrease from 2.8 to 2.1. Asparagus cowpea showed a decrease in the content of both ascorbic acid (by 36%) and photosynthetic pigments (chlorophylls and carotenoids) - by 6–8% in the hardening option.

The introduction of new vegetable crops in the harsh climate of Siberia presupposes the evaluation of resistance to environmental factors (long day, low temperatures, fungal diseases etc.) limiting the growth of plants, using pre-breeding methods.The studies were carried out in the outdoor and unheated plastic greenhouse conditions of the Central Siberian Botanical Garden (CSBS), Novosibirsk (54 ° N 83 ° E) and in the outdoor and the conditions of phytotron of the N.I.Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR). We used a large collection of species accessions belonging to families Leguminosae, Cucurbitaceae and Brassicaceae. It is proposed to use the taxonomically important, stable traits and other features that affect the possibility of scaling up the cultivation of crops in Siberia. Sequential assessment, e. g. asparagus bean includes evaluation of resistance to a long day, cold resistance in the phase of mature male gametophyte in vitro, the composition of pathogenic micromycetes, and the resistance of accessions to them. Also, it is offered to use the symbiotic systems, including the effective strains of Bradyrhizobium sp. and high-yield cultivars with a neutral response to day length and low variation in biochemical composition, for example, the cultivar ‘Sibirskiy razmer’ bred in the CSBS.

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In this review, the authors considered the promising species of vegetable crops for introduction and breeding in the Russian Federation. An attempt was made to assess the possibilities of their breeding improvement from the standpoint of the presence of traits that limit large-scale production. Species that could potentially serve as sources of a high content of functional food ingredients (FFI) have been identif ied and characterized. For the successful introgression of these species in the Russian Federation, we proposed the methodological approaches including the assessment of the potential cold resistance of thermophilic crops in the mature male gametophyte in vitro (e. g., asparagus bean). The increase in the biodiversity of vegetable plants and improving of their nutritional value should be recognized as one of the main tasks, along with the growth of crop productivity. It is proposed to use the ratio of the total number of the registered cultivars of a particular crop to the number of years since the f irst cultivar of that crop has been included in the State Register of Breeding Achievements Admitted for Use as a measure of demand. It is advisable to formalize the trait "high content of FFI" in crops, taking as a basis, for example, a 2-4-fold excess of the content of any FFI or their complex in a cultivar over the crop's standard (reference) value. Such varieties should be included in the State Register of Breeding Achievements Approved for Use as a separate list. The purpose of their separation in the State Register is to ensure the potential interest of investors and business structures in the sale of functional food on the market. The paper discusses in detail the most promising species of introduced vegetable crops from f ive families (Brassicaceae, Amaranthaceae, Solanaceae, Leguminosae, Cucurbitaceae). The following species are proposed as potential sources of high FPI content: Brassica oleracea ssp. oleracea, B. oleraceae var.