Morphometric, Chemical and Genetic Description of Ficus carica L. accessions.

In this study we have explored the fig diversity using a parallel approach of molecular analysis (SSRs), chemical profile (polyphenols and antioxidant capacity) and geometric morphometric variables. (landmarks and the angles measurements). Chemical and morphometric data were determined on leaves. Hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis (HCA) was applied to the standardized data to investigate the similarity and dissimilarity between the fig varieties. To evaluate the correspondence of the results obtained with the different analyses Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) has been conducted. The set of chosen markers resulted highly polymorphic, and allowed the characterization of all the studied accessions. The geometric morphometry data displayed variation in leaf traits among varieties. Chemical analysis highlighted considerable diversity among fig accessions, in particular their amounts were variety-specific. The combined use of these methods with statistical analysis has confirmed the variability in Tuscan figs accessions, despite their limited geographical distribution.