Rosa x damascena Mill. (Rose)

Rosa x damascena Mill. also known as the oil-bearing rose is the predominant rose species worldwide used for production of rose essential oil products applied in the perfumery, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and food industries. The present chapter presents detailed information covering diverse aspects related to the botany, economic use and breeding strategies of this species. The reader is introduced to its origin, distribution and domestication starting from ancient times until present times. A detailed botanical description is presented describing all plant parts. The last 20 years were characterized by extensive application of DNA marker techniques for analysis of the biodiversity in this species. A summary of the obtained results in these studies is presented here and related to the geographic distribution of the species and the main production areas. Furthermore, the reader is introduced to all agricultural aspects related to R. x damascena cultivation including propagation strategies, requirements to climate and soil conditions, agrotechnology, pruning, fertilization, irrigation, disease and pest control. The economic use of R. x damascena is also summarized focusing on the diverse essential oil products including rose essential oil, rose water, absolute, concrete as well as on the economic parameters of rose growing and essential oil production in the main growing regions including the biggest producers Bulgaria and Turkey. Finally, we discuss the breeding strategies for improving R. x damascena, which have been applied so far as well as the future perspectives related to the application of molecular breeding, biotechnology and new plant breeding techniques.