International Journal of Agriculture, Environment and Food Sciences JAEFS e-ISSN : 2618-5946 DOI: 10.31015/jaefs.2019.3.12 www.jaefs.com Research Article Int J Agric Environ Food Sci 3(3):196-202 (2019) Determination of morphological and pomological characteristics of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) genotypes grown in Diyarbakır Mehmet Cicek1 Mine Pakyurek2,* Ferit Celik3 1Southeastern Anatolia Region International Center for Agricultural Research, Diyarbakır, Turkey. 2Siirt University Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Horticulture, Siirt, Turkey. 3Yüzüncü Yıl University Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Horticulture, Van, Turkey. *Corresponding Author: [email protected] Abstract The aim of this study was to determine the pomological and morphological characteristics of pomegranate gen- otypes grown in Çermik and Dicle districts of Diyarbakır province. As a result of the study carried out on 10 genotypes; fruit weights were found between 198.8 and 366.0 g, seed hardness of the fruit was medium-hard in eight genotypes, hard in two genotypes, aril yield ranged from 58.1 to 70.0% and fruit juice volume was between 63.9 and 135.7 ml. The upper peel color was purple in four genotypes, pink-red in two genotypes, orange-red in one genotype and orange in three genotypes. The bottom peel color is orange-red in seven genotypes and orange in three genotypes. Aril color was dark purple in three genotypes, purple in two genotypes, medium red in two genotypes and pink-red in three genotypes. The acid content was found to be between 0.65 and 1.21% and the amount of total soluable solid (TSS) varied between 15.0 and 21.0%. It was concluded that all 10 genotypes were promising and these genotypes showed superior characteristics. Keywords: Pomegranate, Pomological properties, Morphology, Dicle, Çermik Introduction bia, Thailand, America and Tunisia. Compared to other fruit Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is the most important species, production and consumption rate is less than others species of Myrtiflorae order and Punicaceae family. Pome- (Özbek, 1977, Dokuzoğuz and Mendilcioğlu, 1978; Onur, granate, thought to have been brought to Southern Europe by 1983, Özgüven and Yılmaz., 2000). the Carthaginians, is known as Malum punicum (Carthagia Many ingredients like starch, mannitol, punicic acid, an- apple). The name pomegranate, which is derived from the thocyanin, polyphenolic, isopelletierin alkaloids, triterpenes, words grained apple, is named “Pomegranate” in English and resinous substances, acids, tannins and alkaloids can be found “Granadapfel” in German (Onur, 1988). In the Middle Ages, in various structures of pomegranate tree which are root, stem, the name Punica granatum was derived from the term Pomuni branch bark, seeds and fruits. Pomegranate is generally used granatum (apple with seeds) (La Rue, 1980). Many holy books to strengthen the body and heart. It is also used for ceasing mention pomegranate fruit. In Egypt, Greek and Roman leg- diarrhea, cough, constipation, stomach burns and vomiting. It ends, “pomegranate” fruit is mentioned. has also been used in folk medicine for centuries due to its anti- Pomegranate has been produced in South Asia and South- pyretic, diuretic, antipyretic in febrile diseases and prevention west Asia for thousands of years. Pomegranate is widely grow- of vascular obstruction (Saleh et al., 1964; Onur, 1983; Anesini ing Afghanistan, China, Morocco, Palestine, India, Iraq, Iran, and Perez, 1993; Ponce-Macotela et al., 1994; Zhang; et al., Israel, Italy, North and South Cyprus, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Ara- 1995; Yılmaz et al., 1995; Mavlyanov et al., 1997). Cite this article as: Cicek, M., Pakyurek, M., Celik, F. (2019). Determination of morphological and pomological characteristics of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) genotypes grown in Diyarbakır. Int. J. Agric. Environ. Food Sci., 3(3), 196-202 DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.31015/jaefs.2019.3.12 Received: 02 June 2019 Accepted: 12 September 2019 Published: 27 September 2019 Year: 2019 Volume: 3 Issue: 3 (September) Pages: 196-202 Available online at : http://www.jaefs.com - http://dergipark.gov.tr/jaefs Copyright © 2019 International Journal of Agriculture, Environment and Food Sciences (Int. J. Agric. Environ. Food Sci.) This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-by 4.0) Licens 196 Mehmet Cicek, Mine Pakyurek and Ferit Celik Int J Agric Environ Food Sci 3(3): 196-202 (2019) In recent years, understanding of the benefits to human pomological characteristics of genotypes were established. At health of pomegranate and increasing economic value have be- the harvest, five fruit samples were taken from each predeter- come the leading causes of significant developments occurring mined trees and transported in cloth bags. Then, these samples in pomegranate cultivation in Turkey. Propagation of pome- were analyzed in the laboratory of Gap International Agricul- granates can be done by seed, layering, cuttings, bottom shoots tural Research and Training Center. and budding. Pomegranate is one of the most suitable fruit In genotypes, fruit weight (g), fruit length (mm), fruit width species can be grown in arid and semi-arid climatic conditions (mm), fruit juice yield (fruit juice quantity/fruit weight x100), owing to its drought-resistant characteristics. fruit density (g/cm3), fruit volume (ml), calyx radius (mm) ), Turkey is one of the most important pomegranate producer calyx length (mm), peel thickness (mm), aril color (red and countries in the world and has a rich variety of varieties and pink), bottom peel color (green, greenish-yellow, yellow), peel genotypes. The suitability of ecological conditions, the abun- thickness (mm), upper peel color (pink, red), weight of the dance of land, domestic and foreign demands increase pome- 100 arils, number of chamber, appearance of the calyx (ap- granate production rapidly. Turkey has a total of 502.000 tons parent, less pronounced, moderate pronounced), the easiness of pomegranate production as of 2017. Besides, 13.662.000 of aril separating (easy, moderate, difficult), the taste of the trees are in the yield period in the existing pomegranate farms, fruit (sweet, sour), fruit pulp weight (g), fruit shape index (fruit and 3.123.000 trees have not yet invested in yield (Anony- length/fruit width), aril yield (total aril weight/fruit weight x mous, 2017). Southeast Anatolia Region, on the other hand, 100) and total seed weight were measured or calculated. Be- ranks third after the Mediterranean and Aegean Region in terms sides, total soluable solid (%), pH and titratable acidity (%) of pomegranate production due to its climatic characteristics contents of fruits were determined (Onur 1983; Yılmaz et al. (Özgüven and Yılmaz, 2000). Total pomegranate production 1995). area in Southeastern Anatolia is 71.980 da. Production amount The promising genotypes were defined depending on po- is 53.352 tons, the total number of trees is 3.564.392 and aver- mological and morphological characteristics through weighed age yield amount per tree is 21 kg (Anonymous, 2016). grading method. This method attributes greater percentage val- Diyarbakır, the most developed city in terms of agricul- ues to the properties which are considered to be important. The ture and industry in Southeastern Anatolia, has a continental sum of these values is 100. Genotypes were evaluated accord- climate. Genetic resources of the region include pomegranate ing to this scoring system. Utilizing this method, seed hardness types that have superior properties in terms of yield and quali- was scored as 15%, aril yield 15%, fruit weight 15%, fruit juice ty. No study on the identification and selection of these pome- volume 15%, upper peel color 10%, aril color 10%, titratable granate genotypes have been conducted. With this first study, acid ratio 10%, and TSS (total soluable solid) were 10%. it was aimed to identify these genotypes grown in Çermik and Dicle districts of Diyarbakır province, to make them a standard Results and Discussion genetic variety, to protect them, to preserve them for breeding Genotype-specific phenological, morphological and pomo- studies and to expand their cultivation. logical features of each are shown in the tables Table 1, Table 2, Table 3. Material and Methods Samples are taken from different pomegranate genotypes Results of Fieldwork grown naturally in Çermik and Dicle districts of Diyarbakır This study was carried out in two villages of Çermik and province. The selection criteria to study the pomegranate trees Dicle districts of Diyarbakır province in vegetation period of are considered to be abundant and regular in yield, to display 2015-2016. Field studies revealed the physical properties of good vegetative development, to show adequate flowering, to trees. Pomegranate cultivation in the before mentioned dis- yield high fruit set, to offer short flowering period, to be adapt- tricts is widespread in regions where irrigation opportunities ed to local climate for ripening period, to produce large fruity, are available. Cultivation operations (pruning, fertilizing, ir- reddish, thin-peeled, aromatic, juicy, soft seeded, to be resis- rigation, agricultural spraying, soil tillage, etc.) are not per- tant against diseases and pests. The trees presenting superior formed by the definition. Failure to perform cultivation related properties in these criteria are selected. procedures by the definition directly affects the quality and the The villages