DOI: https://doi.org/10.5513/JCEA01/27.3.5025
Original scientific paper
Seed morphometry as a tool for discriminating the diversity of Moroccan grapevine
2026, 27 (3) p. 693-708
Nouhaila DIHAZ, Salama EL FATEHI, Hanan AL AOU-OUAD, Anass BEN MOULA, Widad BENZIANE, Abdelhalim CHMARKHI, Younes HMIMSA
Abstract
Grapevine seeds exhibit a high degree of polymorphism. Accordingly, they have been utilized for genus Vitis taxonomy and generally, their phenotypic traits are used to describe Vitis vinifera L. varieties. To study the phenotypic diversity of grapevine seeds using linear morphometry, 540 seeds from 27 indigenous Moroccan grapevine varieties were sampled. Eleven linear morphometric parameters were used to characterize seed shape, while four indices (aspect ratio, circularity, roundness, and solidity) were employed to describe seed form. The results demonstrated that the selected morphometric measurements have strong discriminative power. Their application to seeds from indigenous Moroccan varieties revealed marked inter-varietal and intra-varietal variability. For all varieties, one-way and two-way analyses of variance (ANOVA) showed highly significant differences with elevated F-values, indicating a high rate of variability both within and among varieties. Principal component analysis further revealed that grapevine varieties from the Western Rif exhibit greater intra-seed variability compared to those from the Middle and High Atlas regions. In contrast, seeds from the latter regions are generally bigger, wider, and more circular and rounded. These findings support the hypothesis that grape seeds display distinct phenotypic patterns linked to their geographical origin.
Keywords
Vitis vinifera L., local varieties, shape characteristics, seed form, variability
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