Phenotypic diversity of date palm cultivars (Phoenix dactylifera L.) from Algeria

The aim of this work is to evaluate the phenotypic diversity of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.). This study shows that Biskra region has an interesting biodiversity. This latest was conducted during the growing palm groves since 3 years (2010, 2011 and 2012) in Biskra, on 89 date palm varieties, to identify their distinctive phenotypic characteristics. Seventeen physical parameters have been examined, including 4 relative to vegetative growth, and 13 to the fruits at the date parameters stage. The main components analysis was used to identify the differences and similarities between the parameters studied. The principal component analysis showed that morphological characters for fruits should be used for identifications and descriptions of date palm cultivars. The results revealed a wide variation for different degrees of significance between the 89 cultivars for most studied traits, and showed the superiority of the fruiting characteristics over the vegetative, the former included: Fruit weight 0.851 and length 0.746, flesh weight 0.865, the coefficient of fruit length/width 0.754 and the weight coefficient flesh/seed 0.675. These features had significant representation, as they helped significantly in finding 18 well identified varieties. The results analysis showed three homogeneous groups varieties sharing some traits, the convergence rate is different from one class to another within the same group. This study allowed us to highlight the most discriminating characters that can be used for further studies of diversity.