Wild olive (Olea europaea L. ssp. oleaster) selection in Ayvacik region

Olive tree which has a great importance in terms of the efficient evaluation of the marginal areas has also great advantages for human health and creating added value. For this reason, the economic prospect emerges as a rapidly increasing value in Turkey which is suitable for almost all the shoreline olive cultivation. In this study; the area within the borders of Ayvacık district of Çanakkale province was screened in detail and totally 33 different wild olive genotypes were selected and marked geographically. Fruit yield was used as first and the most important criteria for this selection. Tree growth, crown shape, as well as leaf, fruit and kernel characteristics and oil quantity and quality properties were determined among these selected genotypes. Wild olive genotypes were found to be statistically quite different each other in terms of morphological and agronomic parameters. Additionally, these genotypes were grouped in terms of their similarities and differences by cluster analysis. Furthermore, as a result of the factor analysis, the factors that have the ability to represent the other parameters were determined and some suggestions were made for further investigations in the light of the obtained results.