Agriculturae Conspectus Scientificus, Vol 89, No 4 (2024)

Leaf Mineral Composition in Plum Cultivars (Prunus salicina Lindl. and Prunus domestica L.) Related to Yield Levels

Anas HAMDANI, Said BOUDA, Lahcen HSSAINI, Abdellatif BOUTAGAYOUT, Atman ADIBA, Rachid RAZOUK

Pages: 373-382

Summary


The plum tree is a major crop in Morocco, and one that has developed rapidly and plays a very important environmental role in the protection, restoration and fixation of soils. It also plays an economic role, which lies in its fruit, which has a high nutritional value comparable to that of fruits such as almonds, peaches, apples and others. However, there is no national study to assess the variability among cultivated plum cultivars to supply descriptors that are important, especially in the case of the evaluation of plum genotypes. In this study, 27 plum cultivars grown in the Ain Taoujdate experimental field of Morocco's National Institute for Agronomic Research were examined to assess the variability among them. Measurements were made on yield, macronutrient content of leaves: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) and micronutrients: sodium (Na), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu). All analyses revealed significant variation in terms of yield and leaf mineral composition between the cultivars studied. PCA using the mean of the traits revealed that fruit yield and foliar content of potassium (K), zinc (Zn), nitrogen (N), iron (Fe), sodium (Na), copper (Cu), magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca) had the greatest impact on the discrimination of cultivars to reveal their variability. Analysis of the clusters identified three separate groups among the cultivars examined in order to assess their variability. These findings are of considerable value for the breeding of cultivars for plum trees based on their agronomic and mineral attributes for cultivation.


Keywords


Prunus domestica L., Prunus salicina Lindl., productive potential, leaf macro and micro micronutrient

Full Text: PDF