substantially influence the fruit phenolic content and total antioxidant activity ( Wojdyło et al., 2008 ). Because fruits of northern Greece are exported to the rest of Europe and taking into consideration that the previously mentioned factors influence
The Mediterranean Sea basin is the main olive-producing region all over the world. Greece constitutes one of the most important countries in olive culture, accounting for 13% and 5.3% of the global olive oil and table olive production, respectively
’, whereas firmness was not different between the cultivars. Origin ‘Bakirtzeika’ is a local Greek sweet cherry cultivar that was discovered as a chance seedling in 1986. The same year, the cultivar was included in an official trial and evaluated in the
the Mediterranean melon landraces, Greek and Cypriot landraces are not well known. Staub et al. (2004) studied the diversity among Greek melon accessions using RAPD markers, concluding that the Greek germplasm is genetically unique. In the present
‘Tsolakeiko’ is a local Greek cherry cultivar. Productivity and mean fruit weight of ‘Tsolakeiko’ were significantly higher than ‘Bigarreau Burlat’ and ‘Tragana Edessis’. Total soluble solids of ‘Tsolakeiko’ were lower than ‘Tragana Edessis’ but
The financial effectiveness of a soilless vertical bag system of hydroponics culture was evaluated for off-season strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa Duch) production in heated greenhouses in northern Greece. Financial analysis revealed that the implementation of this soilless culture system instead of the traditional production system under plastic tunnels would not be profitable for Greek farmers due to its high initial investment and high fuel consumption. Sensitivity analysis indicated the importance of product price in affecting the magnitude of benefits, confirming the interest of farmers to produce off-season strawberries to market them when prices are likely to be higher. In addition, yield increase will have a positive effect upon farmers' income.
The aim of the present study was to develop a reliable reference database to discriminate between the major Greek olive (Olea europaea L.) cultivars and reveal their genetic relationships, since Greece is considered a secondary center of diversity. In order to establish genetic relationships among the 26 Greek and eight international cultivars, four amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) primer pairs, 12 randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) primers, along with measurements from 10 morphological traits, were used. A total of 576 AFLP and 113 RAPD markers were produced. Genetic similarities, estimated using the Jaccard algorithim, ranged from 0.45 to 0.83 for the AFLP data and 0.27 to 0.87 for the RAPD data. The cophenetic correlation coefficients between the genetic similarities and the unweighted pair group method of arithmetic averages (UPGMA) phenograms were 0.77 for the AFLPs, 0.81 for the RAPDs, and 0.69 for the morphological traits. However, limited clustering similarities among the phenograms derived from the three methods were observed. This was also reflected by the low correlation between the three genetic similarity matrices produced (AFLP and RAPD, r = 0.39; AFLP and morphological traits, r = 0.11; RAPD and morphological traits, r = 0.02). According to the molecular results, olive cultivars are clustered according to fruit size but not according to geographical origin. Three of the cultivars tested, `Vasilicada,' `Throumbolia', and `Lianolia Kerkiras', were found to branch distantly to the others, according to the AFLP results, and can be considered as ancient Greek cultivars.
Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were used to study the genetic diversity and to discriminate among 33 Greek olive (Olea europaea L.) cultivars. Three feral forms from Crete and five foreign cultivars recently introduced into Greece were also included. Nineteen primers were selected which produced 64 reproducible polymorphic bands in the 41 olive genotypes studied, with an average of 3.4 informative markers per primer. The RAPD markers resulted in 135 distinct electrophoretic patterns, with an average of 7.1 patterns per primer. Based on either unique or combined patterns, all genotypes could be identified. Genetic similarities between genotypes were estimated using the Dice similarity index and these indicated that a high degree of diversity exists within the Greek olive germplasm. Using the unweighted pair-group method (UPGMA) most cultivars were clustered into two main groups according to their fruit size or commercial use (table or olive oil). However, poor correlation was detected between clustering of cultivars and their principal area of cultivation. RAPD marker data were subjected to nonmetric multidimentional scaling (NMDS) which produced results similar to those of the UPGMA analysis. The results presented here contribute to a comprehensive understanding of cultivated Greek olive germplasm and provide information that could be important for cultural purposes and breeding programs.
suitable for the soil and climatic conditions of Greece. Through these endeavors and specific crosses, a lateral-bearing cultivar has emerged with satisfactory characteristics: ‘Ourania’. This is a new walnut ( Juglans regia ) cultivar of Greek origin
Cornelian cherry is a minor fruit species that deserves some attention mainly as a result of its economic potential and environmental importance of its cultivation. ‘Ntoulia 1’ and ‘Ntoulia 2’ are two new Greek cornelian cherry cultivars, whereas