Morphological Characterization of Some Local Varieties of Fig ( Ficus carica L.) Cultivated in Southern Italy

Vitale Nuzzo (), Antonio Gatto and Giuseppe Montanaro
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Vitale Nuzzo: Dipartimento delle Culture Europee e del Mediterraneo: Architettura, Ambiente, Patrimoni Culturali, Università degli Studi della Basilicata, Via Lanera, 20, 75100 Matera, Italy
Antonio Gatto: Dipartimento delle Culture Europee e del Mediterraneo: Architettura, Ambiente, Patrimoni Culturali, Università degli Studi della Basilicata, Via Lanera, 20, 75100 Matera, Italy
Giuseppe Montanaro: Dipartimento delle Culture Europee e del Mediterraneo: Architettura, Ambiente, Patrimoni Culturali, Università degli Studi della Basilicata, Via Lanera, 20, 75100 Matera, Italy

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 23, 1-22

Abstract: Figs ( Ficus carica L.) are ancient fruits of the Mediterranean basin. In Southern Italy, they are particularly important in the traditional course of local cuisine. In Southern Italy, fig trees are rarely cultivated in specialized orchards but are present in association with other fruit trees (for example, olive, almond, pear, pomegranate, and grapevine). These mixed orchards are particularly important in the traditional agroecosystems of the south of Italy. This study reports preliminary results on the local fig variety’s leaf morphological characterization, aiming to elucidate the presence of synonymousness or homonymy for in situ and ex situ conservation and further exploitation. A field survey was carried out during the summer of 2018 in some areas of the Basilicata district. Thirty local putative varieties were collected, and each of them was identified by GPS coordinates and recorded photographically. Moreover, they were cataloged with the name of the Municipality of origin, year, details of growing location (main crop, mixed orchard, gardens, and single plants), approximate age, and the local name supplied by the donor. All relevant information was included in the accession code. Leaf samples were collected from each accession from medium-length shoots. A digital image of each leaf sample was captured using a digital camera. Leaf morphometric traits were recorded using ImageJ and statistically analyzed using the software PAST 4.11 to discriminate among fig accessions. The multivariate morphometric approach applied correctly classified more than 90% of the leaves and helped to discriminate among accession. Moreover, linear discriminant analysis helped to recognize the presence of different synonymousness and homonymy of different accessions. The results revealed that measured leaf morphometric aided by image analysis could be a simple and inexpensive accessions classification tool.

Keywords: leaf morphometric analysis; digital image analysis; principal component analysis; linear discriminant analysis; synonymous; homonymous (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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