Morphological evaluation and comparison of Hungarian and Turkish melon (Cucumis melo L.) germplasm

A total of 58 Cucumis melo accessions were studied to compare the morphological characteristics of Hungarian and Turkish germplasm, including typical landraces as well as melons from gene banks of various origins. Hungarian and Turkish accessions representing the particular regions considered to have variation were selected. Qualitative characters were obtained according to the modified UPOV descriptor list for 70 characters. Seventeen quantitative characters (3 seedling, 3 leaf, 2 flower, 9 fruit) were also measured. The results indicated that both Hungarian and Turkish germplasm resources present wide range of diversity for morphological traits. The results also yielded significant findings as to choose the precious accessions for further breeding programs. Results of both qualitative and quantitative measurements indicated that accessions of the two countries are generally different. However, within the inodorus group very close relations were detected with multi-variable analyses. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.