Evaluation of phenotypic variability of fig (Ficus carica L.) cultivars in Atlas Mountains and oases of Morocco
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1
Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, Beni mellal, Morocco
2
University of Sultan Moulay Slimane Beni-Mellal Faculty of Science and Technology Campus Mghilla, BP 523 , 23000 Béni Mellal
3
University of Sultan Moulay Slimane Beni-Mellal
Faculty of Science and Technology
Campus Mghilla, BP 523 , 23000 Béni Mellal
4
University of Sultan Moulay Slimane Beni-Mellal
Faculty of Science and Technology
Campus Mghilla, BP 523 , 23000 Béni Mellal
Corresponding author
BOUDA Said
Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, Beni mellal, Morocco
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ABSTRACT
The fig tree (Ficus carica L.) is one of the most economically important fruit species in Morocco. Nevertheless, little research has focused on the genetic diversity of total fig genetic material, and there is no comprehensive inventory of Moroccan fig cultivars. So, this study focused on unstudied cropping zones, namely Atlas Mountains and oases of the South of Morocco. 28 pomological traits were used to characterize 75 cultivars of autumn figs. The results revealed significant pomological variation among studied cultivars, with high levels of variation for most measured parameters, as indicated by the overall mean values and high coefficients of variation. Further, the analysis of variance showed significant differences between cultivars for the majority of the examined traits, demonstrating high phenotypic heterogeneity among these cultivars. Size, weight, length, width, and flesh thickness of fruit were found to be the most discriminatory variables between cultivars. The Principal coordinate analysis and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis placed the accessions in two separate groups. Hypotheses of homonymy and synonymy were suggested for some cultivars. The results indicated that cultivars in this region provide a rich genetic resource as well as pomological markers were informative for genetic variability detection of this species. These results should be exploited to resolve mislabeling problem of some cultivars which could be useful to identify the exact number of fig cultivars in Morocco in order to establish a national core collection.