Characterization of indigenous barberry germplasm in Pakistan: variability in morphological characteristics and nutritional composition

Abstract

-Introduction. Barberry (Berberis aristata DC.), a small fruit, is found growing in the wild in the temperate region of northern Pakistan. Materials and methods. Three different locations of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, i.e., Topa, Banjosa and Neriyan Sharif, were explored; thirty accessions of barberry were identified and characterized on the basis of their growth habit, flowering, fruiting and chemical composition of fruits. Results. The accessions exhibited high diversity in their phenotypical/morphological traits such as growth habit, intensity and time of flowering, fruit setting, ripening time, productivity, and fruit shape and color. The location had a great impact on quantitative parameters. Accessions collected from Neriyan Sharif had significantly greater plant height, higher number of branches per plant, extended flowering duration (days), took more time to maturity (days) and had high fruit setting (%), while those from Topa had large-sized leaves and fruits with greater average fruit weight. The nutritional composition of fruits indicated that the accessions from Topa had higher carbohydrate, ash, total soluble solids and Mn contents, with significantly higher juice pH, and lower acidity; while the accessions from Neriyan Sharif had significantly higher moisture, protein, fat, fiber, K, Ca, Na, Fe, Cu, Pb and Cr contents and were highly acidic. The accessions collected from Banjosa were almost intermediate for the quantitative characteristics studied. Conclusions. The results suggested that not only the genotype but its growing location as well are the main factors that determine the growing habit, productivity and nutritional composition of barberry fruits, and this ultimately provides important information on how to make the best use of them.Pakistan / Berberis aristata / biodiversity / fruits / physicochemical properties / proximate composition / genotype environment interaction Caractérisation du matériel génétique indigène de l'épine-vinette au Pakistan : variabilité des caractéristiques morphologiques et de la composition nutritionnelle.Résumé -Introduction. L'épine-vinette (Berberis aristata DC.), qui produit de petits fruits, se développe à l'état sauvage dans la zone tempérée du nord du Pakistan. Matériel et méthodes. Trois localités différentes (Topa, Banjosa et Neriyan Sharif) de l'Azad Jammu-et-Cachemire ont été explorées ; trente accessions d'épine-vinette ont été identifiées et caractérisées sur la base de leur port, floraison, fructification et composition chimique des fruits. Résultats. Les accessions étudiées ont présenté une forte diversité de caractéristiques phénotypiques et morphologiques (port, intensité et durée de floraison, nouaison, maturation, productivité, forme et couleur du fruit). La localisation a eu une grande incidence sur les paramètres quantitatifs. Les accessions collectées auprès de Neriyan Sharif ont significativement présenté de plus grands plants, un plus grand nombre de branches par plant, une durée de floraison plus longue, un temps de maturation plus l...

Biodiversity in morpho-physiological characteristics of indigenous plum germplasm from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan

“…Climatic conditions, soil and locality influence the growth habit of tree. Tree shape, size, number and arrangement of leaves and branches depend upon light penetration into the tree canopy (Ahmed et al, 2013;2014). In the present study, the trees of most of the plum genotypes were upright and only three accessions had spreading growth habit.…”

Assessment of Genetic Diversity of Barberry Germplasm (Berberis Spp.) in Central Regions of Iran by Morphological Markers

“…It seems that genotypes with lower leaf dimensions had lengthier thorns. Ahmed et al (2013) reported the leaf length and leaf width in their investigated barberry ranged from 96.9 to 66.7 mm and 33.1 to 25.8 mm, respectively. The range of leaf length and leaf width in barberry genotypes studied by them was more than the values reported in the present study.…”

“…The length and width of the berries in the studied barberry were in the range 1.06-9 and 0.4-5.2 mm, respectively. In another study, the berry length varied from 9.75 to 7.12 mm, and the berry width was in the range 4.34-2.65 mm (Ahmed et al 2013). Goodarzi et al (2018) also investigated on the barberry genotypes in Khorasan-e-Jonoobi and reported that the berry length and berry width were in the range of 7.4-10.84 and 4.39-8.05 mm, respectively, which was more than the means of the berry length and berry width in this research.…”

“…The traits with higher coefficient of variation are more distinct between individuals and are reliable markers for studying individuals (Khadivi-Khub & Etemadi-Khah 2015). High variation in tree growth habit and berry shape traits was reported by Ahmed et al (2013) who evaluated 30 barberry genotypes from Pakistani regions. Similarly, Rezaei (2009) reported a high variation among Iranian barberry genotypes.…”

“…The range of leaf length and leaf width in barberry genotypes studied by them was more than the values reported in the present study. Genetic and environmental factors are responsible for leaf size variation (Ahmed et al 2013).…”