Analysis of almond (Prunus amygdalus) biodiversity in Sardinia

Almond (Prunus amygdalus Batsch) is the most important nut crop worldwide. Based on 2010 FAO data, the USA were the first almond producing country, followed by Spain, Iran and Italy.In Sardinia the cultivations are mainly constituted by local cultivars, used for the production of typical sweets. Several of these cvs. are under the risk of genetic erosion.Focusing on the assessment of local almond materials, the purpose of this thesis was to characterize a 20-years old collection, containing genotypes gathered from different areas of Sardinia.Chapter 1 studied, by means of eleven SSR markers, the genetic diversity between our collection and a Central-South Italian collection.Chapter 2 analyzed more deeply the genetic structure of Sardinian collection through the same SSR set. Moreover, the analysis of a four-year phenotypical data set allowed to investigate the existance of phenotypic clusters and the association between molecular and phenotypic data.Chapter 3 was focused on the molecular characterization of the self-incompatibility (SI) genotypes of the sweet almond accessions of the collection. The comprehension of crossing compatibilities for the local accessions and the identification of possible pollinators is one essential prerequisite to increase the productive levels.Chapter 4 analyzed the local germplasm for the quality of almond oil in the perspective of specific utilization/purposes (e.g. sweet productions, cosmetic/pharmaceutical uses, nutritional purposes).