Genotypic Effect on Olive (Olea europaea) Fruit Phenolic Profile

Abstract

Phenolic compounds are important targets in olive breeding due to their health benefits and impact on fruit and oil quality. Fruit phenolic profiling enables efficient screening of large germplasm collections without oil extraction, but environmental variability, especially year-to-year differences, affects their expression. The aim of this study was to assess the genotypic influence on fruit phenolic composition, based on a three-year evaluation of 10 wild olive genotypes and 75 cultivars from an olive core collection. Each genotype was sampled in at least two seasons, with 1 to 3 trees analyzed annually. Variance analysis revealed significant genetic variation among cultivars and notable genotype-by-year interactions for certain phenolics. Broad-sense heritability was generally high for most compounds, although some, such as ligstroside and ligstroside aglycone, showed greater environmental sensitivity. Best linear unbiased predictions (BLUPs) were highly correlated with average relative phenotypic values. Clustering analyses identified strong associations among key phenolic compounds and highlighted distinct metabolic profiles separating wild and cultivated genotypes, reflecting differences in phenolic accumulation patterns. These findings demonstrate the genetic and environmental influences on olive fruit phenolics and provide reliable estimates to support future marker-assisted selection studies aimed at developing useful tools in olive breeding programs.