Plasticity of fruit and oil traits in olive among different environments

Abstract

Olive is a long-living perennial species with a wide geographical distribution, showing a large genetic and phenotypic variation in its growing area. There is an urgent need to uncover how olive phenotypic traits and plasticity can change regardless of the genetic background. A two-year study was conducted, based on the analysis of fruit and oil traits of 113 cultivars from five germplasm collections established in Mediterranean Basin countries and Argentina. Fruit and oil traits plasticity, broad‐sense heritability and genotype by environment interaction were estimated. From variance and heritability analyses, it was shown that fruit fresh weight was mainly under genetic control, whereas oleic/(palmitic + linoleic) acids ratio was regulated by the environment and genotype by environment interaction had the major effect on oil content. Among the studied cultivars, different level of stability was observed, which allowed ranking the cultivars based on their plasticity for oil traits. High thermal amplitude, the difference of low and high year values of temperature, negatively affected the oil content and the oleic acid percentage. Information derived from this work will help to direct the selection of cultivars with the highest global fitness averaged over the environments rather than the highest fitness in each environment separately.

Effects of Climate on Fruit Growth and Development on Olive Oil Quality in Cultivar Carolea

“…The harvesting time affected the TPC of olive oils, denoting the highest amounts in the October productions, without significant differences between A and B oil samples. These results, according to Osman et al [57] (1994), showed a higher phenol content in Greek olive oils obtained from plants grown at lower altitudes (100 vs. 400 m a.s.l.). During the harvesting time, from October to December, an overall decline in TPC was observed in all oil samples, attesting to −24% in A, −13% in B and −42% in C, according to previous studies [66] and revealing the best retention in medium-altitude-produced oils.…”

“…However, the relationships, which not particularly close, between the ripening index and the flesh firmness values at the end of the measurements (168 days after the stone hardening) (R 2 = 0.61), and between the ripening index and the sum of the degree days of 24 weeks after the stone hardening (R 2 = 0.55), indicated that these processes were likely to be influenced by other factors in addition to temperature. The climatic conditions affected olive oil production: in particular, a high thermal amplitude negatively affected the oil content in drupes [57]; a lower acidity was quantified in those produced in cooler growing environments, according to [58] that evidenced larger amounts of free fatty acids in oil from lower elevation. Moreover, the FA increase in olive oils obtained in progressive harvesting periods was also noted for other cultivars grown in the same region of our experimentation, as in Ottobratica and Roggianella [59,60], for Barnea in Israel [61], and Arbequina and Picual in Spain [62].…”

Eleven Monovarietal Extra Virgin Olive Oils from Olives Grown and Processed under the Same Conditions: Effect of the Cultivar on the Chemical Composition and Sensory Traits

“…These different outcomes can be related to the different environmental conditions thus suggesting a synergistic effect of genetic and environmental factors on the fatty acid composition. Mousavi et al [ 20 ] investigated several olive cultivars, including Frantoio, Leccino, Coratina and Moraiolo, and demonstrated that the fatty acid profile of the oil was regulated by the interaction of environmental and genotype factors. It has been shown that both temperature and light play a role in modulating oleic acid content and the oleic acid/(palmitic + linoleic acids) ratio in the oil.…”

“…In fact, it is known that the same cultivar grown in different pedoclimatic conditions (altitude, latitude, climatic conditions, soil composition etc.) shows different values in fatty acid composition, phenolic content and oxidative stability [ 19 , 20 , 21 ]. Since pedoclimatic aspects, olive ripeness, harvesting time and the extraction system, strongly impact on the chemical composition and sensory properties of oils [ 22 , 23 , 24 ], it is recommended to control these factors when studying characteristics of MEVOOs.…”

Phenotype - Chemotype Correlation of the Herb Bletilla Rchb. f. Based on a Comprehensive Evaluation of Thirty- Three Geographic Populations

“…These results suggested that B. ochracea could be accepted as an alternative resource to B. striata. E cient screening of excellent genetic resources is important for new germplasm creation and breeding, and e ciently discovering the phenotypic indicators signi cantly related to yield and quality is especially critical for perennial herbs [30]. Usually, B. striata exhibits the best comprehensive traits and is harvested in the third year after cultivation [31,32], which requires at least 3 years to estimate the genetic material and preliminarily screen out a quality germplasm.…”