Evaluation of traits and genetic diversity of some European pear cultivars (Pyrus communis L.) in climatic conditions of Alborz province

One of the basic requirements before starting any breeding program is to identify the relationships and genetic diversity in the population and to recognition the target traits. This study was conducted to investigate the genetic diversity among some European pear cultivars using fruit's key traits of these cultivars. Eleven European pear cultivars were used for this study along with two control cultivars Shahmiveh and Sardrodi. Thirteen cultivars were planted in a randomized complete block design with three replications and during three crop years ten key traits including fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit texture firmness, fruit length to diameter ratio, TSS, pH, acidity, fruit set and fruit yield were recorded for each tree. Combined variance analysis of the data showed that the cultivar component was significant for all studied traits at the level of 1% probability. The highest fruit weight among the cultivars belonged to Nart cultivar with an average fruit weight of 374.38 g and the highest fruit yield belonged to Mellina cultivar with a yield of 10.07 kg per tree. With the principal component analysis, the studied traits in the first four components explained 87.66% of the total variance. With cluster analysis, Nart cultivar was placed in a cluster alone due to the high differences in its traits and appearance, and Decandel, Pacham's Triumph, Abate fetel and Mellina cultivars were distinguished as superior from the two control cultivars due to their favorable fruit characteristics.