Oil Quality and Morphological, Phenological, Bio-agronomical and Molecular Characterization of Syrian Olea europaea L. germplasm

The oil, morphological, phenological, bio-agronomical and genetic molecular characteristics of the main Syrian olive cultivars (Dan, Doebli, Hemplasi, Insassy, Karamani, Khoderi, Jlot, kaissy, Sorani, Safrawy, Souri and Zaity) were evaluated in the period 2004-06, within the Italian cooperation project “Technical Assistance for the Improvement of Olive Oil Quality in Syria”. The molecular analyses, using SSR and AFLP markers, were carried out on 42 accessions, selected from six distinct collections located in Syria (Damascus, Tartous, Aleppo, Lattakia, Idleb and Hama), in order to verify the presence of inter- and intra-varietal genetic differences. The cultivars showed marked differences in all the fruit characteristics studied (detachment force, weight, pulp/pit ratio, water and oil content, pigmentation and morphology). The oleic content in the oils of most of the cultivars was about 70% or higher. The Karamani cultivar had a relatively lower oleic value (63-64%) and relatively higher amounts of palmitic and linoleic acids. The values of all the parameters (acidity, peroxide number, absorbencies in ultraviolet, fatty acid composition, sterol composition and content) used to evaluate oil quality were within the IOOC trade standards, with the exception of the ?-7-stigmastenol values that were sometimes too high in the cultivars Khoderi and Doebli (> 0.5%) and of the Campesterol content that was sometime too high in the cultivar Insassy (> 4.0%). Regarding the molecular characterization, no ambiguous cases of synonymy among the considered cultivars were found. The notable genetic variability observed among the 42 samples (accessions) indicates a situation of “cultivar populations”, that is, the presence of different clones within the same cultivar.