Analysis of wild sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) germplasm diversity in south-east Serbia

Ten wild growing sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) genotypes from South-East Serbia with different fruit skin color were analyzed for its phenological, morphological and chemical traits. Agronomic evaluation of germplasm accessions revealed considerable diversity among different accessions for all the characters studied. The analysis of variance revealed significant differences among all genotypes for almost all examined properties. Cluster analysis showed adequate grouping of wild sweet cherry genotypes according to pomological characterization and distinguished them into two distinct groups. The first group had two subgroups and consisted of seven genotypes, while the second one included only three accessions. Despite of the significant differences among genotypes, the total concentration of phenols made a clear separation between the clusters. The level of genetic diversity in these wild sweet cherry genotypes is very high and therefore these trees are useful sources of variability for attributes studied and can be employed in further breeding programs or conservation.