Downloads: 112 | Views: 188 | Weekly Hits: ⮙1 | Monthly Hits: ⮙1

Research Paper | Agronomy | Lebanon | Volume 3 Issue 6, June 2014

Morphological Characterization of Prickly Pears (Opuntia ficus indica (L.) Mill.) Cultivated in Lebanon

Chalak L. | Younes J. | Rouphael S. | Hamadeh B.

Abstract: Opuntia ficus indica (L. ) Mill. is a long-domesticated cactus crop that is important in agricultural systems throughout arid and semiarid parts of the world. It has been introduced in the Mediterranean basin contributing to the diversification of fruit crops. In the present work; we report on the first assessment of prickly pears cultivated in Lebanon based on a set of descriptors including morphological traits of the tree; cladode and fruit; and chemical traits of the juice. Forty three accessions were characterized in their cultivated habitats of which 12 accessions considered as local and putatively named Baladi and 31 as imported and designated as Franji. Principal components analysis showed that fruit; juice and pulp weights; seed number; peel thickness; and plant vigor; habit and shape are the most significant traits. PCA bi-plot showed not a likely spatial differentiation between the accessions. The dendrogram constructed according to Euclidean distance separated the accessions in six main sub-groups based mainly on fruit weight and plant habit. Much variability observed for both Baladi and Franji accessions may be attributed to seed propagation and multiple origin of initial propagating material. These results indicate a significant diversity within the Lebanese germplasm that should be further completed by a DNA analysis to understand the genetic structure of this germplasm.

Keywords: Opuntia ficus indica L Mill, Germplasm, Morphology, Chemical traits, Variability

Edition: Volume 3 Issue 6, June 2014,

Pages: 2541 - 2553