Evaluation of phenotypic diversity of nut and kernel characteristics in some almond cultivars and promising genotypes

To evaluate the morphological diversity of some almond cultivars and genotypes, an experiment was carried out on 35 Iranian and foreign almond genotypes. Thirty-eight quantitative and qualitative characteristics of nuts and kernels of almond trees were evaluated. Analysis of variance and means comparisons showed that all of the characteristics in examined cultivars were significant, showing high variability in these cultivars and their characteristics. Results of simple correlation analysis indicated the existence of significant, positive and negative correlations among some important traits. Cluster analysis showed that, in Euclidean distance of 15, all cultivars and genotypes divided in to 2 main branches. With decrease in Euclidean distance from 25 to 5, the cultivars and genotypes were divided to 8 main subclusters. Cluster analysis showed that nut length, kernel length, kernel weight, nut weight, shell thickness and hardness, dispermous kernel percentage, patterns of outer shell and suture opening of shell were the main characteristics that separated the genotypes. According to results, ‘Shahrood 13’ ,‘Shahrood 21,‘Shahrood 6’, ‘Sefied’, ‘Premorski’, ‘Yalda’, ‘Shahrood 10’, ‘Shahrood 12’, ‘Mamaei’, ‘Shahrood  7’, cultivars, and also ‘AIM2’, ‘AIM1’, ‘GM1‘, AHN2’,‘AHN1’, and ‘AHYU’ genotypes were better than other cultivars and genotypes.