Full Length Research Paper

Morphological and pomological traits of almond phenotypes (Amygdalus communis L.) isolated from their natural population

Frane Strikić¹*, Mira Radunić¹, Igor Pasković¹, Tatjana Klepo¹ and Zlatko Čmelik²

[1]Institute for Adriatic Crops and Karst Reclamation Split, Put Duilova 11, 21000 Split, Croatia.

²University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Svetošimunska cesta 25, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: Frane.Strikic@krs.hr. Tel: ++ 385 (0) 21 43 44 11. Fax: ++385 (0) 21 31 65 84.

Accepted 26 November, 2009

   Abstract

Seven phenotypes were isolated from a natural population of almonds (Amygdalus communis L.) and more positive traits than the standard varieties that were cultivated, were identified. Over the period of three years, phenological and pomological research was conducted in situ, along with the observation of vegetative traits and productivity of isolated phenotypes. The research was conducted on the basis of the 2.11 (IBPGR) descriptor for the identification of Prunus varieties. Phenotypes K1, K4, K6 showed the best results. The research will be continued through a comparative experiment with the selected phenotypes in equal agro-ecological conditions.

Key words: Almond, selection, phenotypes, 2.11 IBPGR descriptor.