Determination of Fruit Quality and Fatty Acid Composition of Turkish Walnut (Juglans regia) Cultivars and Genotypes Grown in Subtropical Climate of Eastern Mediterranean Region

Turkey has considerable walnut populations in its several different ecological regions. Five cultivars ('Sebin', 'Sen 1', 'Tokat 1', 'Kaplan 86' & 'KR 2') and three genotypes ('Malatya 1', '77H1' & '65/4') selected form different regions were investigated for their fruit quality characteristics and fatty acid compositions in the eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey. The results indicated that the fruit weight ranged from 9.21 g ('Tokat 1') to 22.2 g ('Kaplan 86'), kernel weight ranged from 5.39 g ('Sebin') to 9.79 g ('Malatya 1') and kernel percentage ranged from 36.69 ('Kaplan 86') to 62.84% ('Tokat 1'). Fatty acid profile was a significant parameter distinguishing the walnut cultivars and genotypes. Palmitic acid values of these genotypes were ranged from 6.98 to 8.77%, oleic acid ranged from 19.33 to 36.76%, linoleic acid ranged from 41.55 to 59.89%, linolenic acid ranged from 8.44 to 11.0%, steraic acid ranged from 3.22 to 4.99. Oleic acid content of genotype kernels with dark color (C & h values are low) were the lowest but the linolenic acid contents of them were the highest. 65/4', 'KR 2' and 'Sebin' genotypes were found to be very promising for fruit quality traits and fatty acid profiles in the eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey. (C) 2012 Friends Science Publishers