Nut and Kernel Characteristics of Some Almond Cultivars and Genotypes in Northwest of Iran

It is important to study the morphological diversity of native almond genotypes with the aim of selecting and introducing new cultivars. In this study, 30 native collected genotypes and six commercial cultivars of almond were evaluated in terms of 22 quantitative and qualitative traits of nut and kernel. High diversity was observed for nut weight, shell color, shell hardness, shell opening, kernel taste, and kernel percentage among evaluated genotypes. Cluster analysis based on index traits divided these genotypes into five groups. The genotypes ALC203 and ALC413 and the cultivars Non-pariel, Yalda, and Manaqha which were located in the second cluster, had thin shell with high percentage of kernel that are important for nut consumption. In principal components analysis based on the average of 10 index traits, the first three main components explained a total of 80.75 % of the diversity of traits. In the first main component, nut weight, shell thickness and shell hardness and in the second main component, nut and kernel size had the major part in the separation of genotypes. Shell hardness had significant positive correlation with shell thickness and nut weight. Kernel percentage had significant negative correlation with shell thickness and its hardness but showed positive correlation with shell opening. These results are useful for selecting new promising genotypes of almond.