Phenotypic divergence among wine grap accessions in the semi-arid region of Brazil the semi-arid region of Brazil
Rita Mércia Estigarribia Borges, Elaini Oliveira dos Santos Alves, Nadja Pollyanna da Silva Gonçalves, Ana Patrícia de Oliveira Gomes, Daniela Correia Leite Andrade, and Teresinha Costa Silveira de Albuquerque
ABSTRACT – The objective was to estimate the phenotypic divergence in wine grapes based on 11 agronomic variables. Two contrasting groups, both for white as for red grapes, were formed by principal component analysis. In white grapes, greatest divergence was observed in the accessions Baco Blanc, Campanário and Palomino. In red grapes, the most divergent were Aramon and Tannat; Castelão and Mars. The standardized Euclidean distance indicated 52.4 and 40.0% white and red grape accessions, respectively, with means exceeding the overall mean. By UPGMA, four major groups were formed for white and red grapes. Both principal component analysis and UPGMA showed that the genealogy of the accessions Petite Sirah FR and Petite Sirah RS is similar. The accessions with most divergence in the traits studied should be used to produce hybrids, as well as for selection of accessions with a view to regional wine making.