2025, 90 (4)  p. 321-338

Zahra El Kettabi, Kaoutar El Fazazi, Abdelaziz Alaoui, Abdelmajid Haddioui, Chaimae El-Rhouttais, Kamal El Fallah, Jamal Charafi

Abstract

In Morocco, cherries have acquired significant importance among fruit species and are one of the main species in high altitude areas. However, there is no exhaustive study that has highlighted the genetic diversity level of this species according to the varietal effect over several years under Moroccan climatic conditions. In the present study, twenty sweet cherry varieties were characterized using pomological and physicochemical traits over three years (2019, 2021, and 2022). Analysis of variance revealed that the majority of fruit traits were significantly affected by the variety, year, and their interaction. Fruits average weight for three years presented a high variation, ranging from 3.01g to 7.75g. Fruit length varied from 16.15 mm to 23.06 mm, and width ranged from 15.51mm to 22.52 mm. For chemical parameters, according to the variety, the pH ranged from 3.32 to 4.03 and the total soluble content among 17.17 and 23.24. Differences between the three years were highly significant for all the pomological parameters, highlighting the annual influence on the fruit parameters. Most of the pomological traits (fruit weight, dimensions, etc.) were relatively higher in 2019. For the physicochemical traits, pH and titratable acidity showed a strong variation over the three years, whereas total soluble content did not show any variation. The study showed a great diversity of Moroccan sweet cherry and physicochemical parameters variation is highly significant according to the variety and the harvest year. This study provides a basis for the breeding programs of sweet cherries in Morocco.

Keywords

cherry tree, ex-situ collection, diversity, multivariate analysis, physicochemical, pomology

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