Morphological Characterization of A. vineale

Abstract

Allium vineale L. is a wild edible Allium species. This species is collected from nature by the local people in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey and consumed as a vegetable. Aboveground organs of A. vineale plants are used in herbed cheese production in the eastern provinces. Collection from nature is not a sustainable way production of this species. A. vineale can be propagated via seeds and bulbils. It is suitable for cultivation under field and protected conditions. For agricultural production of this species, new cultivars with improved yield and quality traits have to be developed. In this study, an A. vineale germplasm was created with the aim of developing new cultivars that can be used in herbed cheese production. The accessions included in the germplasm were characterized for desired traits such as adaptability to culture conditions, agronomic characteristics and harvest uniformity. The phenotypic diversity of A. vineale accessions were examined using morphological descriptors derived from International Union for the protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV). According to the clustering and principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) made by evaluation of the morphological features, the accessions were divided into two main groups based on the locations. Germplasm accessions differ from each other for leaf waxiness and color intensity. A. vineale can be distinguished from other Alliums present in the same area with thin leaves, short plant height, and multiple bulbils in the flower scapes. © 2021, Centenary University. All rights reserved.