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Far
Left: Dr. Ragone collecting breadfruit in Samoa |
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| Middle:
Breadfruit germplasm collection at Kahanu Garden |
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Right:
Dr. Ragone with massive breadfruit trees in Pohnpei |
Research
Interests
My
primary research interest is Pacific Island ethnobotany,
especially the conservation and use of traditional
crops, focusing on breadfruit. I am currently evaluating,
characterizing and describing the world's largest
breadfruit collection located at the National Tropical
Botanical Garden's Kahanu Garden in Hana, Maui, for
seasonality and important horticultural and morphological
characters, as well as fruit quality and nutritional
analyses. The goal of this project is to provide elite
cultivars to the Pacific Islands and elsewhere in
the tropics for food security and reforestation. I
am currently developing the Breadfruit Institute (www.breadfruit.org)
as an international center to promote the study and
use of breadfruit. Other research projects involve
collecting, documenting, and conserving traditional
breadfruit cultivars and knowledge in Polynesia and
Micronesia.
Additional
research interests include documenting the history
and status of economic plant introductions and crop
plant collections in the Pacific islands. I am also
working with DigitalMedia Hawaii/Pacific on videographic
documentation of cultural practices in Oceania.
Selected
Publications
| Ragone,
D. In Press. Landscaping with Native Hawaiian
Plants. In: A Tropical Garden Flora. G. Staples
(ed.). Bernice P. Bishop Museum. Honolulu. |
| Ragone,
Diane. 2003. Breadfruit. Pp. 655-661. In B. Caballero,
L. Trugo, and P. Finglas (eds). Encyclopedia of
Food Sciences and Nutrition. Academic Press, San
Diego. |
| Ragone,
Diane. 2002. Breadfruit storage and preparation
in the Pacific Islands. Pp. 217-232. In S. Yoshida
and P.J. Matthews (eds). Vegeculture in Eastern
Asia and Oceania. JCAS Symposium Series 16. The
Japan Center for Area Studies, National Museum
of Ethnology, Osaka. |
| Ragone,
Diane, David H. Lorence, and Timothy Flynn. 2001.
History of plant introductions to Pohnpei, Micronesia
and the role of the Pohnpei Agriculture Station.
Economic Botany 55(3): 290-324. |
| Ragone,
Diane. 2001. Chromosome numbers and pollen stainability
of three species of Pacific Island breadfruit
(Artocarpus, Moraceae). American Journal of Botany
88(4) 693:697. |
| Gemmill,
C. E. C., T. A. Ranker, D. Ragone, S. P. Perlman,
and K. R. Wood. 1998. Conservation genetics of
the endangered endemic Hawaiian genus Brighamia
(Campanulaceae). Am. J. Botany 85(4):528-529. |
| Ragone,
D. 1997. Breadfruit. Artocarpus altilis (Parkinson)
Fosberg. Promoting the conservation and use of
underutilized and neglected crops. 10. IPGRI,
Rome |
| Ragone,
D. 1995. Description of Pacific Island breadfruit
cultivars. Acta Horticulturae 413:93-98. |
| Ragone,
Diane. 1996. Recovery Plan for Hibiscadelphus
distans. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Portland,
Oregon. 42 pp. |
| Ragone,
D. 1991. Ethnobotany of breadfruit. Pp 203-220.
In: P.A. Cox and S.A. Banack (eds.). Islands,
Plants and Polynesians. Dioscorides Press. Portland |
| Ragone,
D. 1988. Breadfruit Varieties in the Pacific Atolls.
Integrated Atoll Development Project. United Nations
Development Project. Suva, Fiji. |
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