Fruit pomological characters of olive new hybrids from cross breeding.

Since 1991 AGRIS-Sardegna started a cross breeding program aimed to create new olive selections using as parents the main cultivars of Sardinia germplasm. Some tens of hybrids were obtained and are still under evaluation for phenotypic characters and fruit technological quality. AGRIS-Sardegna and the University of Sassari collaborate by decades to the study and evaluation of olive genetic resources in Sardinia and this research is a part of the program. Cultivars used for the cross breeding were ‘Tonda di Cagliari’, ‘Nera di Gonnos’, ‘Semidana’, ‘Tonda di Villacidro’, ‘Pizz’e Carroga’, ‘Tondo sassarese’ and many others as well as some allocthonous cultivars like ‘Nocellara del Belice’ and ‘Picholine’. Seedlings were planted in an experimental plot from 1994 to 2000 in the experimental station of Villasor (South Sardinia, Italy). Plant size and shape, yield, fruit and seed morphological characters, pulp and oil composition, and oil sensory properties were the most studied in the new selections. Olive yield per plant ranged from 7 to 20.4 kg. Fruit weight varied between 2.08 and 8.3 g. Most of selections showed a little stone with a pulp/pit ratio always over 6. The oil content was comprised between 15.5 and 25.7% and always classified as extra-virgin (acidity lower than 0.8% and number of peroxides under 20) in a selected population of 19 hybrids. Sensory analysis of oils revealed fruity, spicy, bitter and herbaceous as the main perceptions. New data are expected by new experimental plots dedicated to the most interesting selections.