Fruit Quality Characters of Myrtle (Myrtus communis L.) Selections: Review of a Domestication Process

Abstract

Interest in myrtle (Myrtus communis L.) by food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutic industries generated the integration of biomasses harvested from wild populations as raw materials with yields of cultivated orchards. The domestication process is reviewed considering shoot, fruit, and leaf biometric characters of selections obtained in three steps of the program. The first step started in Sardinia (Italy) in 1995 by the analysis of wild germplasm variability. Seventy accessions were the object of the first studied population of mother plants. Agamic propagation tests, as well quality evaluations of fruit and leaves, were integrated into the first step. In the second step, a field of comparison of forty-two agamically propagated cultivars functional to biomass production and to food uses was planted and evaluated for phenotypic characters. In the third step, a new population of twenty selections was obtained by open cross-pollination of some of the cultivars and further phenotypic selection in seedling population. In this review, the three populations are compared for biometric shoot, leaves and fruit characters, in order to verify the pressure of domestication process on these traits. Wild populations showed high variability only partially used during the first step, while the hybridization may create new variability for use in the genetic improvement of myrtle.

Fruiting character variability in wild individuals of Malania oleifera, a highly valued endemic species

“…To a large extent, the flowering and fruiting of trees in their natural habitats are dominated by the environment 30 . However, the comparison of trait selections in the same environment allowed better evaluation of genotype influence on plant characteristics 31 . Our study suggests that morphological characters were more different among different individual trees than between different geographic localities, even though these had different climates.…”

Climate Variables of the Sites of Origin and Genotype Influence on Phenolic Compounds Accumulation in Cultivars of Myrtus communis L.

“…For the other sites one cultivar was analysed (Cuglieri, Laconi, Isili, Siniscola, Telti and Monti). The cultivars derived from a domestication process that began in 1995 in Sardinia, Italy [30]. This process included in situ biometric and morphological study of 130 candidate mother plants, selected and sampled in different locations of Sardinia.…”

“…The study of ripening time of berries of every cultivar was established after a preliminary study of the maturation dynamic of berries during five seasons. According to the study of Fadda and Mulas [31] the optimal The cultivars derived from a domestication process that began in 1995 in Sardinia, Italy [30]. This process included in situ biometric and morphological study of 130 candidate mother plants, selected and sampled in different locations of Sardinia.…”

In vitro and ex vitro propagation of Turkish myrtles through conventional and plantform bioreactor systems

“…Within the Myrtle species, two distinct subspecies are recognized: communis and tarentina. Notably, these subspecies can further be categorized into varieties based on the color of their ripe fruit, with melanocarpa characterized by a bluish-black peel and leucocarpa distinguished by a yellowish peel ( Medda & Mulas, 2021 ). These species are monogenic, having hermaphrodite flowers.…”