ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Morphological Variability between Geographical
Provenances of Walnut Fruit (Juglans
mandshurica) in the Eastern Liaoning Province,
P.R. China
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1
College of Forestry, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, People’s Republic of China
2
Key Laboratory of Forest Tree genetics and Breeding of Liaoning Province, Shenyang,
Liaoning Province, People’s Republic of China
Submission date: 2020-10-05
Final revision date: 2020-12-10
Acceptance date: 2020-12-18
Online publication date: 2021-05-21
Publication date: 2021-07-29
Corresponding author
Jifeng Deng
College of Forestry, Shenyang Agricultural Univeristy, China
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2021;30(5):4353-4364
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ABSTRACT
The eastern Liaoning Province of China has rich morphological diversity in walnut fruit, which is
beneficial for selecting promising characters for marketability purposes. However, only a few reports
have addressed morphological diversity in this region. In this study, J. mandshurica nuts and kernels
from six geographical provenances were assessed for morphological traits, such as nut longitudinal
diameter, nut lateral diameter, nut transverse diameter, mean diameter, nut weight, kernel weight, shell
thickness, nut sutural thickness, kernel percentage, and index of roundness. Morphological traits proved
to be quite variable and showed differences both within and among the geographical provenances.
The frequency distribution of the traits had single peaks and followed a normal distribution. Principal
component analysis revealed that 81.062% of the total variance was explained by the first three
components. An unweighted PGM with averaging cluster analysis divided the geographical provenances
into two groups; cluster I, containing five geographical provenances, and cluster II, containing only one.
The study highlighted that the traits related to nut weight were of importance for discrimination, and
Fushun is the optimal geographical provenance for breeding and selection. This study could provide
a basis and reference for further understanding of the genetic resources of Juglans mandshurica fruit
types.