Morphological and pomological variability of a grape (Vitis vinifera L.) germplasm collection

Abstract

Grape, represented by numerous table and raisin cultivars used in the production of juices, canned food, medicines, and various fermentation products, as well as grown for ornamental purposes, holds a special place in the world market. In the current study, morphological and pomological characterizations of 55 grape cultivars were investigated. Significant differences were observed among the studied cultivars for the measured characters. Bunch length ranged from 6.00–25.00 cm, while berry length ranged from 12.32 to 31.85 mm. In addition, 10 types of berry skin color were observed and light-green (14 cultivars) and yellowish-green (15 cultivars) colors were predominant. Furthermore, 20 cultivars formed seed as rudimentary, while seeds were well-developed in 34 cultivars and one cultivar was seedless. Bunch density showed negative correlations with berry length and berry width, indicating that larger berries were found in less dense bunches. The clustering dendrogram based on the obtained data showed three main clusters with several sub-clusters. The obtained data revealed high morphological variability within the studied collection of autochthonous grapevine cultivars which might be considered as characterizing the large gene pool and contributed to the breeding process of grape.