Morphological diversity of caprifig (Ficus carica var. caprificus) accessions in the eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey: Potential utility for caprification

- This is the first detailed study comparing the morphological diversity of the caprifig accessions.
- The caprifig accessions displayed variable numbers of gall flowers, male flowers, and pollen grains per fruit depending on fruit size.
- Mersin06 and Osmaniye02 caprifigs were found to be persistent.
- A total of 22 of 44 plant, fruit and pollinizer traits were useful for separating the caprifig accessions or identifying those that would perform well as pollinizers according to Principle Component Analysis.
- The data showed great morphological and pollinizer variability among the caprifigs, which makes them valuable genetic resources to incorporate into breeding programs in addition to their use for caprification.

The present study was carried out to determine the morphological and pollinizer characteristics of six standard cultivars and 90 caprifig accessions grown in eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey. The mamme, profichi and mammoni crop sets of caprifigs were evaluated in 28 accessions and six standard cultivars in 2014 and 2015. The accessions Mersin06 and Osmaniye02 were found to be persistent and the remaining accessions were found to be caduceus. The dates on which the pollinator wasp Blastophaga emerged from profichi fruits ranged from 28 May to 07 July according to means of two years in the eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey. Pearson correlation analysis showed that the number of gall flowers, male flowers and the number of viable pollen grains per fruit in caprifigs were strongly dependent on fruit size (dimensions and weight). Principle component analysis indicated that the number of gall flowers per fruit; date of emergence of the Blastophaga wasps from the fruit; duration of Blastophaga emergence, percentages of pollen viability and germination; and pollen number per anther, per flower and per fruit could be useful parameters for assessing whether caprifig accessions would be useful pollinizers. The early season accessions Hatay06, Adana03 and Adana12; the mid-season accessions Hatay22, Hatay35 and Kmaraş05; and the late season accessions Hatay20, Hatay13 and Hatay19 scored the highest in overall quality using a weighted, ranked index. Our study demonstrated great morphological and pollinizer variability among the caprifig accessions, which makes them valuable genetic resources to incorporate into breeding programs in addition to their use for caprification.