Determining the Morphologic, Yield and Phytochemical Properties of ’Damaye’ and ’Nq-7’ Goji Berry Varieties Under Semi-Arid Climate Conditions

Abstract

This study has been conducted during the 2015–2016 period in Aksaray, with semi-arid climate conditions, with the purpose of defining the morphologic, yield and phytochemical parameters of ’Damaye’ and ‘NQ-7’ Goji Berry varieties. The trial was conducted with ‘Damaye’ and ‘NQ-7’ varieties in randomized blocks experimental design, with three repetitions and 10 plants in each repetition, tubed saplings in every 3 m × 2 m intervals, during the years 2015 and 2016. Morphologic and yield parameters such as plant stem diameter, plant crown height, plant shoot size, plant size, yield per plant, yield per decare, yield efficiency, 100 grain weight and phytochemical parameters such as antioxidant ratio, total phenolic matter quantity, C vitamin quantity, glycose quantity, fructose quantity and sucrose quantity were examined. In the study, year × variety interaction was found to be statistically meaningful at a rate of 5% in plant stem diameter, plant crown width, plant crown height, plant size, yield per plant, yield per decare parameters; while year was found to be statistically meaningful at a rate of 5% in plant crown width, plant shoot size and yield efficiency parameters. And in terms of phytochemical properties, the difference between varieties were found to be statistically insignificant. In 2015, the average plant stem diameter (4.01 mm), plant crown height (71.12 cm), plant size (84.27 cm), yield per plant (0.22 kg/tree) and yield per decare (47.71 kg/decar) values of ‘Damaye’ variety were observed to be higher than the ‘NQ-7’variety. In 2016, the average plant stem diameter (15.12 mm) and plant size (167.50 mm) values were higher in ‘Damaye’ variety, while the average yield per plant (2.12 kg/tree) and average yield per decare (468.29 kg/decar) values were higher in ‘NQ-7’variety. As for plant corolla height, both ‘NQ-7’ (114.73 cm) and ‘Damaye’ (105.06 cm) varieties were ranked first and statistically placed within the same group. In conclusion, in 2015 ‘Damaye’ variety displayed a better performance in terms of morphologic and yield parameters, while in 2016, ‘NQ-7’variety displayed a better performance. But in both years, yield efficiency and yield per decare values were higher in ‘NQ-7’variety when compared to the ‘Damaye’ variety.