Population and Individual Multivariate Analysis of Barberry Genotypes: Implications for Breeding, Development, and Food Security

The present study was carried out mainly aimed at determining the correlation between morphological and biochemical traits aimed at finding a recognizable and low-cost marker in breeding programs. Another goal was to describe morphological variation and evaluate important nutritional characteristics of wild Iranian barberries. In terms of the morphological traits, the highest coefficients of variation were observed in the leaf width (96.44%) and leaf base (62.45%). When it comes to biochemical traits, the highest coefficients of variation were observed in antioxidant activity (76.26%) and anthocyanin (50.86%). Considering the significant correlations between fresh fruit weight with antioxidant capacity (−0.37), total soluble solids with fruit length (−0.29), fruit diameter (−0.27) and thorns density (−0.25), and fruit juice content with fruit diameter (0.37), seed length (0.30), seed shape (0.28), and fruit length/fruit diameter ratio (−0.26), these morphological traits could be considered as prime candidates for superior genetics, especially when biochemical traits are concerned. Applying principal component analysis indicated three main components that explained 51.2% and 54.73% of the morphological and biochemical variance, respectively. The results also revealed that Asg4, Che4, and Tsh13 genotypes have remarkable potential in terms of biochemical traits, meaning that they might be considered as superior parents in breeding schemes. In general, due to the well-understood importance of consuming biochemical compounds in human nutrition, our findings could be utilized with regard to qualitative and quantitative enhancement of these valuable nutritional substances.