Evaluation of 28 cherry laurel (Laurocerasus officinalis) genotypes in the Black Sea region, Turkey

Cherry laurel (Laurocerasus officinalis), both in natural ecosystems and in rural areas, could be exploited as a potential new food, and a source of valuable natural compounds and their derivatives. The main aim of this work was to evaluate 28 selected cherry laurel genotypes, established at the Black Sea Agricultural Research Institute (Samsun, Turkey), for the properties of fruit cluster weight (g), number of fruit/cluster, fruit weight (g), flesh/seed ratio, fruit shape, total soluble solid content (%), and acidity (%). The most promising genotypes were '28 K 03' with the highest fruit cluster weight (54.09 g) and '28 K 07' with the highest fruit weight (5.39 g). The phenotypic divergent genotypes identified from this study would be of much use in future breeding programmes.