Characterization of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) hybrids and their potential use in further breeding

Pomegranate is an important fruit species, with increasing consumption and production in recent years throughout the world. In Turkey, Hicaznar, which was originally developed through selective breeding, is the most highly produced and exported cultivar. To isolate lines with improved productivity and quality, Hicaznar was selfed, open-pollinated, or crossed with the sweet pomegranate cultivars Ernar and Fellahyemez. Arising from the crosses, 3118 lines were developed, and 67 were considered for important traits. These 67 pomegranate genotypes, from different crosses, were compared with their parents, which are commercially important pomegranate genotypes regarding tree and fruit traits. Twenty-one morphological characteristics were evaluated to cover the present genetic variations within the investigated materials using principal component analysis (PCA). Simple correlation analyses showed significant positive and negative correlations for certain important characteristics. Factorial and PC analyses revealed that large variation exists regarding the evaluated tree and fruit characteristics