EVALUATION OF OLIVE GERMPLASM IN IRAN ON THE BASIS OF MORPHOLOGICAL TRAITS: ASSESSMENT OF 'ZARD' AND 'ROWGHANI' CULTIVARS

Iran, located in the Eastern Mediterranean, shares many geographical characteristics and common historical roots with the countries of the Mediterranean basin, which are home to the major known cultivars of olive. Iran, for its part, harbors numerous olive cultivars, whose morphological and biological characters are yet to be characterized. This is important both from commercial and nutritional points of view. Building upon earlier work and in conjunction with a molecular genetics program for molecular characterization of Iranian olive cultivars, we undertook to characterize olive germplasm of Iran on the basis of morphological characters. To reach this goal, we started our research with the study of two important cultivars in Iran, ‘Zard’ and ‘Rowghani’. This survey was performed over a one-year period. Samples were gathered from 281 (‘Zard’, 212 and ‘Rowghani’, 69) adult trees in eight regions with different ecological condition in the North of country (Roodbar, Manjil, Aliabad, Joodaki, Vakhman, Bahramabad, and Gilvan). Forty samples of flower, fruit, endocarp and leaf were collected from each tree. Multivariate statistical methods including cluster analysis and Principal Component Analysis were used for data analysis. Our preliminary results indicate a considerable variation within the traditionally recognized cultivars of olive in Iran. A more detailed assessment of morphological characters is in progress.