Fruit and oil characteristics of Tunisian olive progenies obtained by controlled crosses (original) (raw)

Thirteen olive progenies coming from controlled crosses on Tunisian olive cultivars (Meski and Chetoui) with autochthones and foreign cultivars were selected among 200 olive genotypes on the basis of their agronomic characteristics in a breeding program initiated in 1994. In this study, weight and flesh to seed ratio, oil content, specific absorption at ultraviolet light, free acid content, chlorophyll and carotenoid contents, total phenols and fatty acid composition of these progenies were determined and compared to their parents. The analysis of variance revealed significant differences among genotypes for all traits (p<0.01) except for UV extinction coefficients (K232 and K270). Some progenies showed superior features compared to their genitors.