Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution, cilt.73, sa.1, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Olive is one of the oldest known fruit species in the world. In this study, 23 wild olive genotypes selected by the Eastern Mediterranean Transition Region Agricultural Research Institute for rootstock and cultivar development research were used as plant material. The genotypes used in the study are grown in the Institute's breeding plot. Genotypes were selected from wild olive populations naturally distributed in Turkey's Hatay, Osmaniye, Kahramanmaraş, Adıyaman, and Mardin provinces. This study determined the diversity in fruit color, biochemical composition, individual phenolic compounds, organic acids, and sugar contents of wild olive genotypes. According to the results, significant differences were observed among the genotypes for all evaluated traits. In terms of total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity (AA), the G88 genotype stood out with values of 15,140 mg GAE/kg and 30,611 mg TE/kg, respectively. In olive genotypes, the most abundant phenolic compounds were generally identified as demethyloleuropein, verbascoside, oleuropein, hydroxytyrosol, and rutin, respectively. Sugar contents of wild olive fruits varied between 0.15 g/100 g (G131) and 2.35 g/100 g (G98) for sucrose, between 1.03 g/100 g (GH4) and 5.31 g/100 g (GH2) for glucose, between 0.76 g/100 g (G25) and 5.94 g/100 g (GH2) for fructose, and between 0.43 g/100 g (GH2) and 0.93 (GH1) g/100 g for mannitol. Among the organic acids, citric acid content ranged from 287.56 mg/100 g (G69) to 1037.24 mg/100 g (G122), malic acid content ranged from 359.46 mg/100 g (G131) to 1071.96 mg/100 g (GH3), and succinic acid content varied between 31.18 mg/100 g (G98) and 616.50 mg/100 g (G25). According to principal component analysis (PCA), the first two principal components explained 47.60% of the total variation. The heatmap-based hierarchical clustering analysis, which evaluated the wild olive genotypes and the analyzed traits, revealed that the G98 genotype was grouped separately from the other genotypes. Other genotypes were divided into two subgroups: genotypes G69, G76, G93, G123, and GH3 were included in a subgroup, while the remaining genotypes were classified into another subgroup. Genotype G98 was classified separately from the other genotypes due to its high hue value and sucrose content. The evaluated traits were also divided into two subgroups. Sucrose formed a group independently, whereas the other traits were placed in different groups. The findings of this study indicate that wild olive fruits possess significant potential as sources of bioactive compounds for use in functional foods, pharmaceuticals, and the cosmetics industry, and they represent valuable genetic resources for olive breeding programs.