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The loquat fruit has a very important commercial value due to its benefits for human health. However, there is very limited scientific research on this species in Morocco. In this regard, a set of 35 genotypes was collected from the Zegzel valley (Berkane). The phenotypic variability was evaluated using nine traits related to fruit and leaf. The results revealed a coefficient of variation ranging from 13.02 to 42.21%, implying a large phenotypic variation in Moroccan loquat, especially for the characteristics associated to the fruit shape. Regarding the multiple correspondence analysis, the first two axes explained 62.57% of the total variance. The major traits that made it possible to distinguish between the genotypes were those related to fruit size. Therefore, the Mekerkba genotype in the Zegzel region is not a single variety, but rather genotypes with a round fruit shape. In addition, the 35 genotypes studied were divided into three main groups regardless of their geographical origin. The results indicate that the geographical proximity did not play an important role in the structure of genotypes, implying a weak adaptation of the genotypes to the environment. The findings of this study could be used in conventional breeding and in situ conservation programs for Moroccan loquat.

Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus L., which has a special aroma, colour and odour influencing positively its economic value. In this context, ten saffron ecotypes were screened for their biochemical composition and antioxidant activity. The samples were also analysed using GC‐MS and LC‐MS to determine their content of volatile and phenolic compounds, respectively. The results revealed statistically significant differences among samples based on moisture (9.09%‐11.23%), total phenols (31.62‐62.71 mg EAG/g), total flavonoids (23.02‐40.02 mg ER/mg), total carotenoids (66.12‐155.05 μg/g), picrocrocin (88.99‐121.53), crocin (137.44‐228.39) and safranal (26.56‐53.04). The radical scavenging activity ranged from 17.09% to 29.53% for DPPH assay, and oscillated from 0.128 mmol AAE/g to 0.239 mmol AAE/g for ABTS test, while the ferric reducing antioxidant potency (FRAP) varied from 0.974 to 1.989 mmol Fe2+/g. Gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) analysis identified 66 volatile compounds, among which the Safranal and Isophorone were the most abondant. The ES1 from Taliouine recorded a very distinct volatile composition compared to the others ecotypes with 22 authentic volatile compounds. Moreover, liquid chromatography‐ mass spectrometry (LC‐MS) analysis revealed 14 phenolic compounds with picrocrocin and crocin were found to be the major compounds. The principal component analysis classified the investigated ecotypes into two mean distinctive sets with ES1 and ES9 were distinguished as a single items. The α‐pinene, β‐pinene, limonene, anethole, acetic acid, ketoisophorone, isophorone, safranal, thymoquinone, total flavonoids, FRAP and total carotenoids, are the main discriminant variables. The two‐dimensional analysis of the clustered heatmaps divided showed a relatively similar patterns as the principal component analysis (PCA) and confirmed the singularity of the sample ES1 based on its particular volatile profile dominated mainly by α‐terpinyl acetate, methyleugenol, copaene, anethole, limonene, methyl‐cyclopentane, which were not identified in the other samples even at minor levels. These findings herein found revealed the high quality of Moroccan saffron, which is very important for the species breeding and valorization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluation of genetic diversity according to altitude level is becoming more and more important in the conservation and improvement programs. In this study, ten walnut accessions were sampled from different regions with different altitude level. By using SSR molecular marker, the genetic diversity and structure of walnut were analyzed. The results showed that the Moroccan walnut had high genetic diversity. The diversity within the accessions (Hs), total gene diversity (HT) and Shannon's index (I) were 0.21, 033 and 0.49, respectively. Moreover, the total percentage of polymorphic loci (PPB) was 100% for all loci. Moreover, the variation in genetic diversity of all ten studied accessions indicated a great level of genetic diversity of accessions from low altitude (1000-1500) (HT = 31) than both very-low (500-1000) and moderate altitude (1500-2500) (HT = 0.25, HT = 0.29 respectively). AMOVA analysis showed that only 21% of the total genetic variation occurred among accessions, whereas 78% of the variance was within populations, this was in line with the high level of coefficient of genetic differentiation (GST = 0.37) and the low gene flow (Nm = 0.94). The Cluster and the Structure analyses results indicated that the ten walnut accessions were mainly grouped undependably to the geographic and altitude level into three groups. Based on the available data, it is likely that the altitude factor is enough to significantly influence the walnut genetic diversity, so this factor should be taken into consideration by the walnut crop breeders and users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]