Morphological characterisation of white head cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata subvar. alba) genotypes in Turkey

Abstract

Crops belonging to the Brassica genus are widely grown in Turkey. Cabbages are one of the most important Brassica vegetable crops in Turkey. The aim of this study was to determine similarities and differences regarding morphological variation of white head cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata subvar. alba) genetic resources collected from different eco-geographical regions of Turkey. Data from field experiments conducted between 1999 and 2001 were analysed by multiple variance analysis. Cluster analysis based on 12 quantitative and 10 qualitative variables identified 10 groups. The dendogram was prepared to evaluate morphological similarity between the white head cabbage genotypes. Morphological variability is high among the white head cabbage genotypes of Turkey. As a conclusion, the genotypes evaluated in this study display a wide diversity of characters for selection and combination of interesting genotypes for important characters to obtain improved varieties.