PRIMOSOLE: A NEW SELECTION FROM SICILIAN POMEGRANATE GERMPLASM

A selection work has been carried out in Sicily in order to characterize the local germplasm and to find new genotypes with good behaviour also in comparison with varieties coming from abroad.
Five accessions individuated in rural areas of the east part of the island have been compared with the most important Italian cultivar (‘Dente di cavallo’) and with four Spanish cultivars (‘Piñonenca’, ‘Valenciana’, ‘Piñon tierno’, ‘Mollar de Elche’).
An accession of local germplasm named ‘Primosole’ showed good bio-agronomical performance and is proposed for further diffusion; among the local Sicilian accessions, a relevant variability degree was revealed concerning the fruit characteristics; some of these genotypes showed interesting traits (i.e., seed hardness, fruit colour, ripening period) but, apart from ‘Primosole’, none of them appears to possess overall satisfactory features in comparison with the Spanish cultivars.
These, on the contrary, exhibited good performances and a minor variability degree.
On the whole, the intraspecific genetic diversity already individuated, together with other uncharacterized accessions, represent an important source of germplasm for breeding programs and for new utilisations of this species.

I International Symposium on Pomegranate and Minor Mediterranean Fruits

S. La Malfa, A. Gentile, F. Domina, E. Tribulato

Punica granatum L., genetic diversity, fruit quality

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2009.818.17