沙漠研究 19-1, 181- 184 (2009 )Journal of Arid Land Studies“Desert Technology IX ”
Refereed Paper

Pomological Characterization and Mineral Study of Fruit of Some Local andIntroduced Varieties of Olive-tree (Olea europaea L.) Cultivated in South of Tunisia
Rim JAOUADI*1, Hanen MTAOUA1, Mohamed BEN SALAH1, Ali FERCHICHI1
Abstract: The olive trees plantations are spread in Tunisia. The identification and thecharacterization of olive-trees, the research of other genotypes, will help to develop “newcultivars” able to improve the qualitative standard of oils. This study, which represents a firststage of a research aiming the improvement of the genetic resources of the olive-tree, is basedon a pomological characterization and a study of the mineral composition of the fruit of 14
local and introduced varieties of olive-trees from (Algeria, Italy, Jordan and Lebanon)
cultivated under oasis condition on the south of Tunisia. The studied varieties are: Zalmati
Zarzis, Zarrazi Matmata, Chemlali Sfax, Chemchali, Chemlali Jerba, Neb' jmel, Chemlal ofKabylie, Frantoio, Leccino, Merhavia, Morello, Nabali, Soury and C112. The pomologicalparameters showed an important polymorphism between the cultivars. In addition, olive’s
fruit of the studied varieties are rich on sodium.
Keywords: Characterization, Fruit, Mineral, Olea europaea, Pomological

1. Introduction
Tunisia is classified as the fourth world wild considering its olive’s tree number (60 million trees), andin the second rank considering the area which is about 1.6 million hectares (about the third of the arable
lands of the country) (DGPA/ONH, 1996). However, there is a genetic erosion of this specie caused by theevolution of the socio-economic processes. This situation requires a conservation of this genetic
inheritance, knowing some aspects of the specie’s genome necessary to a possible characterization of thecultivars (Hannachi et al., 2006). Since, various work of varietals identification was elaborated in Spain, inItaly and Algeria starting from the combination of the morphological, agronomic, technological,biochemical and phenologic characters (Priego, 1931; Ciferri et al., 1942; Hauville, 1953; Morettini andAmellini, 1953; Baldini and Scaramuzzi, 1963; Ortega, 1963; Rallo and Cidraes, 1975; Cimato et al., 1997;
Cantini et al., 1999). The olive-tree has a variability of some of its parameters which characterize thegenetic polymorphism of this specie. Among these criteria we quote fruit’s dimensions (Ruby, 1916;
Boulouha et al., 1992), core’s characters (Hauville, 1953), and the shape and dimensions of the sheets(Bellini, 1993). The variation of the mineral composition of the fruit is under the influence various factors(Nergiz and Engez, 2000).
To safeguarding our olive-growing inheritance, we were interested to characterize 14 varieties ofolive-trees cultivated in the south of Tunisia. Our analysis is based on a pomological and biometric study
and on the mineral composition of the fruit.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Equipment plantResearch affected on a sample of 14 varieties of olive-tree: 8 introduced varieties and 6 local ones
cultivated in the oasis of Gabes (South of Tunisia).
2.2. Experimental methods
2.2.1. Pomological analysis of the fruits
The analyzed parameters were: the average weight of fruit (AWF) and core (AWC), the percentage ofmoisture of olive and the ratio (pulps/core). We had also determined the shape and the symmetry of thefruit (SF, Sy.F) and those of the core (SC, Sy.C), as well as the dimensions of the sheet: the length and the1

Aridoculture and oasis cropping laboratory, Institute of Arid Regions of Medenine, Street Eljorf km 22.5, 4119
Medenine-Tunisia.
* E-mail: jaouadirim@yahoo.fr Tel: + 216 75 633 005, Fax: + 216 75 633 006.

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average width (LS and WS).
2.2.2. Determination of the mineral composition
The sodium, potassium and phosphorus contents were determined by the conventional methods ofanalysis based on photometry and spectrophotometry.
2.2.3. Statistical analysis of data
The analysis of the diversity of various varieties of the olive-tree was the statistical processing object
using Ascending Hierarchical Classification (SPSS 12).
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Pomological characteristics
3.1.1. Average fruit weight, average core weight and ratio pulps/core
The average fruit weight (AFW) varies from 0.98 g in the variety Zalmati Zarzis to 5.76 g in theintroduced variety Nabali. The average weight of core (AWC) is of the order of 0.22 g in the variety
Chemlali Sfax and reached a maximum value of about 0.75 g in the Morello variety. The analysis of AFWof the various studied varieties showed the existence of two groups; The first one is composed by thevarieties of Zalmati Zarzis, Chemlali Sfax, Chemlali Jerba, Chemlal de Kabylie, Leccino, Merhavia andC112, having a weight of olives (fruit) not exceeding 2 g and classified very low according to Grati
Kamoun et al. (2001). The second group is composed by the varieties in which the weight of their fruits
was between 2 and 6 g: the varieties Nabali, Morello (4.90 g) and Soury (4.12 g). These ones had beenclassified as average fruits.
According to our results, some varieties such as Chemlali Jerba, Zalmati Zarzis, Zarrazi Matmata, arecharacterized by a small fruit, whereas, according to the results of Grati Kamoun et al. (2001), they wereclassified as having average size. This dissimilarity can be explained by the influence of the geographicalsite and the hydrous conditions. Indeed, these varieties, in our case, were irrigated while those studied by
the announced authors above are grown in drought conditions. Chemlali Sfax remains, however,producing fruits of average size (Touzani et al., 2000; Grati Kamoun et al., 2001).
Considering, the ratio pulps/core, two groups indicated its fluctuation according to the variety: thefirst with a high ratio (P/C) quoting the variety Nabali (7.52), the variety Chemchali (5.70) and the variety
Zarrazi Matmata (5.36). The second group gathers the varieties having a ratio between 2.32 and 4.90. Thevarieties of table olives are known by the variety Meski, a variety of table with a fruit weight of 6.5 g(Trigui et al., 2002). The Nabali variety was relatively heavy (6.5 g) which classified it as a dual purposevariety; which means that it is simultaneously oil and table variety.
The results related to the water content showed that it was variable and oscillated between 9.04 and50.26%. The varieties Zarrazi Matmata, Leccino, C112, Frantoio and Morello had low water contents.
However, the remainders of the varieties had indicated very marked rates such as the Merhavia variety
where the moisture was about 50.26%. Sanchez et al. (1999), showed that the oil contents of the fruit arevery influenced by the moisture of pulp at the time of the harvest of the fruit.
3.1.2. Form and symmetry of the fruit and core
Considering the fruit, the majority of the varieties have an ovoid form. The lengthened form was onlyobserved in the variety Chemlali Jerba. The whole of the fruits are slightly asymmetrical. Concerning thecore, the elliptic form was dominant in the local varieties. The ovoid form appeared in the introduced
varieties (Leccino, Morello and C112). The majority of cores were symmetrical.
3.1.3. Foliar description
The foliar characteristics indicated a variability of dimensions which oscillated between 3.92 and 6.47
cm for the average length and between 0.81 and 1.17 cm for the average values of the width. The primarycharacterization, COI (1997), of the sheet enabled us to classify the varieties in two groups: the first gather
most of the introduced varieties and five local ones which are characterized by the lanceolate and elliptic
shape of the sheets. The second group was characterized by the lanceolate shape of the sheets andcontained the two varieties Neb' jmel and Merhavia.
3.1.4. Statistical analyze studied parameters
The analysis of the dendrogram (Fig. 1) allows the identification of two groups:

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Fig. 1. Dendrogram of the classification of the olive varieties by the combination of the pomological parameters studied

Mineral composition

Group 1 (G1) gathers the varieties with average AWC and P/C ratio. These varieties were theintroduced varieties: C112, Frantoio, Morello, Leccino excluded Zarrazi Matmata and were characterized
by an AWF average. Morello variety had the highest value of AWC (0.751g) but remains still lower than 1,
an average ratio P/C and low water content. The variety Zarrazi Matmata had the lowest rate (9.04%).
Group 2 (G2) gathers the varieties with an important AWF and an important water contents. In thissame group, we see the variety Zalmati Zarzis having the weakest AWF and the variety Nabali with thehighest AWF and a low AWC. Chemlali Sfax represents the lowest value which is equal to 0.221g and aweak ratio P/C. The highest water content is showed by variety of Merhavia (50.26%). It should be notedthat the Nabali variety is the top of this group since it presents important values concerning the AWF, theP/C and the content on water.
0,180,160,140,120,10,080,060,040,020%P%K%Na

Varieties

Fig. 2. Contents in (%) of three studied minerals.

3.2. Mineral composition
By analyzing the curves of Figure 2, we note that the content in sodium (Na) on the fruits of olivetree was higher than their content on phosphorus (P). The last one is also higher than their content onpotassium (K). The potassium contents vary from 0.0025 to 0.0095%, those of phosphorus lie between
0.04 and 0.09%, whereas those of sodium oscillate between 0.03 and 0.16%.
In this study, the composition of olive fruits in K, Na and P shows a significant variability between thevarieties. According to Akrout (1997), the variability of the mineral composition in the plants can beallotted to the nature of the ground, to the climatic conditions, to the age of the plant and to the period ofthe collection. Keller (2005) said that any deficiency or excess of water have an impact on the productionof the crop and it’s content on biogenic salts.

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4. Conclusions
The description of olive fruits shows differences between the different varieties which testify theirvariability. In fact, the Nabali variety has the highest content on AWF, P/C and water whereas the Morello
variety has the highest content on AWC. Moreover, it proved that the fruits and cores of the introduced
varieties are larger than those of the local varieties and that the qualitative parameters are mostpolymorphic between the studied varieties. The mineral composition of the olive-tree fruits ischaracterized by a sodium content higher than the phosphorus content which is higher than the potassium
content: Na > P > K. This study constitutes a first approach of the characterization of the olive-trees
diversity in the oasis of Gabes. That is why it would be desirable to characterize these varieties bybiochemical methods and by the molecular markers (microsatellites, AFLP, RFLP, and RAPD) to exploit
the results in genetic improvement programs.
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