Investigation of pomological and physiological changes in some olive (Olea europea L.) varieties during the development period

The present study was carried out to determine morphological and physiological changes during different development phases of Çekişte, Memecik, Yamalak sarısı, Eşek zeytini and Gemlik olive cultivars. Olive fruits have been collected after pit hardening starting from July 2019 with one month intervals. Five different harvest times covered dark-green tored-black physiological development periods of olive fruits. Harvested fruits have been used to asses changes in 10 pomological (fruit width and length, seed width and length, total fruit weight, fruit pulp weigth, seed eight fruit flesh firmness, fruit water content, fruit pulp/seed ratio), 11 physiological traits (total oil, free fatty acids, soluble protein, free aminoacids, total phenolics and flavanoid, chlorophyll and caratenoids, total tocopherol, total soluble and reducing sugars contents) during the development period of olive fruits. Analyis of the results revealed that there were significant differences between harvest times and cultivars (P≤0.05). Pomological traits differed during the advancment of harvest dates and ripening periods of olive fruits. While fruit weight, fruit length and width, seed length and width increased; fruit flesh firmness and fruit water content decreased during the fruit development. Oil content of fruits reached more than %50 of olive fruits at the end of the harvest period. Total soluble and reducing sugars, total soluble protein and chlorophyll contents decrased during the fruit development of olive cultivars. Total flavanoid contents of Çekişte and Gemlik olive cultivars did not diffred significantly for the first and fifth harvest times. Free fatty acids, free aminoacids, soluble phenolics, carotenoid and tocopherol contents increased during the olive fruit development.