CHARACTERIZATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF SUPERIOR GENOTYPES OF CORNELIAN CHERRY (Cornus mas L.) FROM SEEDLING ORCHARDS.

Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L.) is a popular and valuable small fruit. There are seedling-based orchards of cornelian cherry in Iran which are rich sources of genetic diversity for identifying superior genotypes for cultivation or improving cornelian cherry cultivars. However, little research has been conducted to evaluate the populations and identify superior cornelian cherry genotypes in Iran. In this study, characteristics of 36 superior cornelian cherry genotypes from seedling orchards in the Alamut region in Qazvin province were investigated. Fruit traits including fruit mass, fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit juice pH, soluble solids content, kernel mass, kernel length, kernel diameter and pulp/fruit ratio were measured. A large diversity was found in fruit size, shape and quality parameters of the genotypes. Fruit mass, fruit length, and fruit diameter ranged from 1.646-4.303g, 1.36-3.35cm, and 0.733-2.30cm, respectively. Fruit shape was obligated to semi-round in the genotypes. Kernel mass and pulp portion of the fruits ranged from 1.07-0.253g and 39.77-88.64%, respectively. Fruit juice pH and soluble solids content varied between 2.80-3.16 and 13.2-22.5°Brix, respectively. Based on the results, SOM2, KKP2, SOT1, KK7 and KKP3 genotypes with elongated (SOM2) to oval (KKP3) shaped fruits and weighing more than 3.50g, were introduced as superior genotypes for fresh consumption. The genotypes KKP2, KK7, SOT1, KK6 and KKP3 with the highest pulp mass and high pulp-to-fruit ratio represented suitable traits for processing and juice extraction. In sum, KKP2 and SOT1 genotypes with fruit mass over 4.0 g were the superior high-yielding genotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]