Pomological, phytochemical, and biochemical diversification of autochthonous plum genotypes preserving under same ecological conditions using multivariate analysis

Thirty-two plum genotypes preserved at Erzincan Horticultural Research Institute in Eastern Anatolia Region of T & uuml;rkiye were examined in this study and the phenological, pomological, biochemical and phytochemical differences among them over a two-year period using three replicates were determined. The flowering occurred between early April and the end of April while harvest dates were between the beginning of July and the middle of September. Twenty-nine variables were subjected to multivariate analysis. Results presented a considerable phenotypic diversity of plums. The average fruit weight ranged from 6.74 to 36.05 g with high variability. The fruit color trait was one of the crucial parameters contributing to diversity and varied between white-yellow and dark purple-blackish colors. The average dry matter contents of plum genotypes changed between 13.59 and 30.40%. The dendrogram categorized the genotypes into two major clusters and four well-defined sub-groups. The principal component analysis revealed that the first eight components accounted for 84.09% of the overall variability. Phytochemicals, including total phenolics, antioxidants, flavonoid, and anthocyanin, displayed a great variability. Malic acid was the most abundant organic acid. Vitamin C, malic, oxalic, citric, tartaric, succinic, and fumaric acids showed significant differences among the genotypes. Specific sugars exhibited a considerable degree of variability with glucose being the most abundant sugar. The results represented strong positive and negative correlations between characteristics. All these results represented the variability between plum genotypes and provided knowledge that could be applied to future research. This study, being the first report on plum genotypes, demonstrated the potential of plum genetic resources conserved under the same growing conditions.

Journal

GENETIC RESOURCES AND CROP EVOLUTION

Year

2025

Volume

72

Issue

5

Pages

6043-6069

ISSN

0925-9864

eISSN

1573-5109

DOI

10.1007/s10722-024-02311-w

WoS UID

WOS:001390283800001