variation of some diospyros genotypes in iran based on pomological characteristics

Purpose: gaining knowledge about the genetic diversity is essentialin terms of plant breeding and germplasm conservation. in thisstudy, the genetic diversity of some persimmons was evaluatedusing pomological traits. research method: 28 genotypes belongingto d. lotus and d. kaki species were evaluated from different regionsof iran. nineteen fruit and seed traits were recorded for 15 fruitsper genotype. findings: pomological characteristics showed highvariations among the studied genotypes. generally, the coefficientof variation in seed traits was higher than that in fruit traits. all ofthe d. lotus and some d. kaki genotypes were seeded, while the restof d. kaki genotypes were seedless. fruit weight ranged from 4.45–251.77g, and the most fruit weight was recorded in kbm1 genotype,also the biggest seeds and the most fruit length was detected in thisgenotype. the results indicated that a significant and positivecorrelation there was between fruit weight and length with seeddimensions. various fruit shape was detected among the genotypes,but most of them were round-shaped. the genotypes ranged fromstrongly-astringent to completely non-astringent types. cluster andprinciple component analysis showed that all the genotypes can bedivided into three main groups, and some of the groups can bedivided into distinct sub-groups. in pca, first two componentsexplained about 60.97% of total achieved variability. researchlimitations: no limitations were encountered. originality/value:this study indicated that diospyros germplasm resources in iran areof noticeable diversities and can be promising for the utilization inthe breeding programs.