MORPHO-POMOLOGICAL DIVERSITY OF TURKISH PEAR (Pyrus communis L.) ACCESSIONS IN EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN REGION OF TURKEY

Abstract

Conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources is important to meet the demand for future food security. This study was conducted on twenty-five native pear accessions sampled from Hatay, province, in eastern Mediterranean region of Tur-key. In these accessions, ripening time, productivity, and some important pomological traits were determined such as fruit weight, fruit sizes, total soluble solids contents, pH, and acidity. The grittiness, flavor, and juiciness were also measured as sensory analysis. These results showed that the earliest ripening among the all studied accessions were ‘Biçin 1’ and ‘Biçin 2’ (June 25 in 2009 and June 23 in 2010), while the latest accessions were ‘Dağarmudu 1’ and ‘Dağarmudu 2’ (November 8 in 2009 and November 5 in 2010). In pear accessions, productivity was identified as medium and high. The fruit weight of pear accessions were ranged between 28.29 and 160.02 g, seed numbers were ranged be-tween 0.56 and 10.00, total soluble solid contents were ranged between 10.00 and 18.50%. In pear accessions, 15 instead of all 21 of morpho-pomological fruit properties were able to explain 85.0% of the total variation. As a result, some pear accessions may be recommended for both pear cultivation and the breeding studies in terms of earliness and flavor.

Keywords

• Pyrus communis
• ripening time
• yield
• fruit properties
• fruit color