Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Impact of contrasting climate conditions on pomegranate development and productivity: implications for breeding and cultivar selection in colder environments

  • Research Articles
  • Published:
Vegetos Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Several researches reported that pomegranate adaptation was influenced by many factors related to environmental conditions and genotype. In this study, the influence of two contrasting climate conditions on pomegranate development and productivity was evaluated over two consecutive years (2021/2022). Yield, physical quality of fruits, vegetative growth, and physiological status of 'Sefri' and 'Marsi' (Moroccan cultivars) along with 'Wonderful' (American variety) were assessed and compared under low-temperature conditions and warm climates. The results showed significant varietal differences in nearly all measured response variables, except for the number of stomata per leaf. From the first season of experiment, fruit yield significantly decreased under the coldest climate conditions, with average reductions of 57%, 37%, and 35% in 'Sefri', 'Marsi', and 'Wonderful' cultivars, respectively. This decrease was associated with a significant reduction in arils’ physical quality, and juice content. Additionally, shoot length and leaf area decreased in Moroccan cultivars under colder environments in comparison to 'Wonderful' variety. Physiologically, leaves at high altitude areas had highest proline and cuticular wax content, as well as lowest concentration of chlorophyll pigments, when compared to warm conditions. Based on these results, 'Wonderful' variety was found to be more tolerant to low-temperature environments than Moroccan cultivars, experiencing lowest decline in potential production and vegetative growth. These findings suggest that the variation in low-temperature tolerance among the studied pomegranate genotypes can be utilized in breeding programs and for selecting pomegranate cultivars suitable for neighboring Moroccan regions with colder climates.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The datasets generated and/or analyzed in the course of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Abbreviations

Y:

Yield

FW:

Fruit weight

JC:

Juice content

AY:

Arils yield

AL:

Arils length

AD:

Arils width

SW:

Seeds weight

LD:

Leaf density

LA:

Leaf area

SA:

Stomatal area

SD:

Stomatal density

CC:

Cuticular wax content

Pr:

Proline content

Ch-a:

Chlorophyll (a) content

Ch-b:

Chlorophyll (b) content

References

  • Adiba A, Hssaini L, Haddioui A, Hamdani A, Charafi J, El Iraqui S, Razouk R (2021a) Pomegranate plasticity to water stress: attempt to understand interactions between cultivar, year and stress level. Heliyon 7(6):e07403

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Adiba A, Razouk R, Charafi J, Haddioui A, Hamdani A (2021b) Assessment of water stress tolerance in eleven pomegranate cultivars based on agronomic traits. Agr Water Manag 243:106419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adiba A, Hssaini L, Haddioui A, Hamdani A, Razouk R (2022a) Biochemical properties of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) juice as influenced by severe water stress. Sci Hortic 304:111286

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Adiba A, Haddioui A, Outghouliast H, Hamdani A, Mekaoui A, Charafi J (2022b) Evaluation of cuttings ability of eighteen pomegranate cultivars from an ex-situ collection under influence of stem age and IBA treatment. Sci Hort 304:111281

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Adiba A, Haddioui A, Boutagayout A, Zayani I, Hssaini L, Hamdani A, Razouk R, (2023) Growth and physiological responses of various pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) cultivars to induced drought stress. Vegetos.

  • Agurla S, Gahir S, Munemasa S, Murata Y, Raghavendra AS (2018) Mechanism of stomatal closure in plants exposed to drought and cold stress. Surv Strat Extreme Cold Desiccat Adapt Mech Appl, pp 215–232

  • An N, Welch SM, Markelz RJC, Baker RL, Palmer CM, Ta J (2017) Quantifying time-series of leaf morphology using 2D and 3D photogrammetry methods for high-throughput plant phenotyping. Comput Electr Agric 135:222–232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bennis A, Ajal EA, Bajoub A (2021) Pomegranate cultivation in Morocco: a lever for development, under what conditions

  • Bolat I, Dikilitas M, Ikinci A, Ercisli S, Tonkaz T (2016) Morphological, physiological, biochemical characteristics and bud success responses of myrobolan 29 c plum rootstock subjected to water stress. Can J Plant Sci 96(3):485–493

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cano-Lamadrid M, Marhuenda-Egea FC, Hernández F, Rosas-Burgos EC, Burgos Hernández A, Carbonell-Barrachina AA (2016) Biological activity of conventional and organic pomegranate juices: antioxidant and antimutagenic potential. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 71(4):375–380

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chegah S, Chehrazi M, Albaji M (2013) Effects of drought stress on growth and development frankenia plant (Frankenia Leavis). Bulgarian J Agric Sci 19(4):659–666

    Google Scholar 

  • Dichala O, Giannakoula AE, Therios I (2022) Effect of salinity on physiological and biochemical parameters of leaves in three pomegranate (Punica Granatum L.) cultivars. Appl Sci 12(17):8675

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Evans JR, Loreto F (2000) Acquisition and diffusion of CO2 in higher plant leaves. In: Photosynthesis: physiology and metabolism. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp 321–351

  • Fadavi A, Barzegar M, Azizi M, Bayat M (2005) Note. Physicochemical composition of ten pomegranate cultivars (Punica granatum L.) grown in Iran. Food Sci Technol Int 11:113–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fahad S, Bajwa AA, Nazir U, Anjum SA, Farooq A, Zohaib A (2017) Crop production under drought and heat stress: plant responses and management options. Front Plant Sci 8:1147

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Furlan AL, Bianucci E, Giordano W, Castro S, Becker DF (2020) Proline metabolic dynamics and implications in drought tolerance of peanut plants. Plant Physio Biochem 151:566–578

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ghasemi-Soloklui AA, Ershadi A (2023) Screening pomegranate cultivars for freezing tolerance by reliable methods. Inter J Hort Sci Techn 10(2):211–222

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Giménez-Bastida JA, Ávila-Gálvez MÁ, Espín JC, González-Sarrías A (2021) Evidence for health properties of pomegranate juices and extracts beyond nutrition: a critical systematic review of human studies. Trends Food Sci Techn 114:410–423

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guerfel M, Baccouri O, Boujnah D, Chaïbi W, Zarrouk M (2009) Impacts of water stress on gas exchange, water relations, chlorophyll content and leaf structure in the two main Tunisian olive (Olea europaea L) cultivars. Sci Hortic 119(3):257–263

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hajihashemi S, Noedoost F, Geuns JM, Djalovic I, Siddique KH (2018) Effect of cold stress on photosynthetic traits, carbohydrates, morphology, and anatomy in nine cultivars of Stevia rebaudiana. Front Plant Sci 9:1430

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hamblin J, Stefanova K, Angessa TT (2014) Variation in chlorophyll content per unit leaf area in spring wheat and implications for selection in segregating material. PLoS One 9(3):e92529

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hernández F, Legua P, Melgarejo-Sánchez P, Martinez Font R (2012) The pomegranate tree in the world: its problems and uses. In: Options Mediterranean’s. Series A: Mediterranean Seminars. Ciheam-iamz, Zaragoza, Spain; Universidad Miguel Hernández, Elche, Spain

  • Holland D, Hatib K, Bar-Yàakov I (2009) Pomegrante: botany, horticulture and breeding. Hortic Rev 35:127–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hooks T, Niu G, Masabni J, Sun Y, Ganjegunte G (2021) Performance and phytochemical content of 22 pomegranate (Punica granatum) varieties. Hort Sci 56(2):217–225

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Iglesias-Acosta M, Carmen Martinez-Ballesta M, Antonio Teruel J, Carvajal M (2010) The response of broccoli plants to high temperature and possible role of root aquaporins. Environ Exp Bot 68:83–90

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jaganathan SK, Vellayappan MV, Narasimhan G, Supriyanto E (2014) Role of pomegranate and citrus fruit juices in colon cancer prevention. World J Gastr 20(16):4618

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jayesh KC, Kumar R (2004) Crossability in pomegranate (Punica granatum L.). Indian J Hortic 61(3):209–210

    Google Scholar 

  • Jimenez S, Dridi J, Gutiérrez D, Moret D, Irigoyen JJ, Moreno MA, Gogorcena Y (2013) Physiological, biochemical and molecular responses in four Prunus rootstocks submitted to drought stress. Tree Phys 33(10):1061–1075

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Knight MR, Knight H (2012) Low-temperature perception leading to gene expression and cold tolerance in higher plants. New Phytol 195:737–751

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar A, Nayak AK, Pani DR, Das BS (2017) Physiological and morphological responses of four different rice cultivars to soil water potential based deficit irrigation management strategies. Field Crops Res 205:78–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Le Provost G, Domergue F, Lalanne C, Ramos Campos P, Grosbois A, Bert D, Gion JM (2013) Soil water stress affects both cuticular wax content and cuticle-related gene expression in young saplings of maritime pine (Pinus pinaster). BMC Plant Biol 13(1):1–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee SB, Suh MC (2013) Recent advances in cuticular wax biosynthesis and its regulation in Arabidopsis. Mol Plant 6(2):246–249

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Liu C, He N, Zhang J, Li Y, Wang Q, Sack L, Yu G (2018) Variation of stomatal traits from cold temperate to tropical forests and association with water use efficiency. Funct Ecol 32(1):20–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu C, Zhao X, Yan J, Yuan Z, Gu M (2020) Effects of salt stress on growth, photosynthesis, and mineral nutrients of 18 pomegranate (Punica granatum) cultivars. Agronomy 10(1):27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MAPMDREF (2021) Ministère de l'Agriculture et de la Pêche Maritime - Direction de la stratégie et des statistiques. http://www.agriculture.gov.ma/veilleeconomique

  • Marcell LM, Beattie GA (2002) Effect of leaf surface waxes on leaf colonization by Pantoea agglomerans and Clavibacter michiganensis. Mol Plant-Micr Inter 15(12):1236–1244

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mena P, Galindo A, Collado-González J, Ondoño S, García-Viguera C, Ferreres F, Torrecillas A, Gil-Izquierdo A (2013) Sustained deficit irrigation affects the colour and phytochemical characteristics of pomegranate juice. Sci Food Agric 93:1922–1927

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Murthy KK, Singh M (1979) Photosynthesis, chlorophyll content and ribulose diphosphate carboxylase activity in relation to yield in wheat genotypes. J Agric Sci 93(1):7–11

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Muscolo A, Junker A, Klukas C, Weigelt-Fischer K, Riewe D, Altmann T (2015) Phenotypic and metabolic responses to drought and salinity of four contrasting lentil accessions. J Exp Bot 66(18):5467–5480

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Özreçberoğlu N, Kahramanoğlu I (2020) Mathematical models for the estimation of leaf chlorophyll content based on RGB colours of contact imaging with smartphones: a pomegranate example. Folia Hortic 32(1):57–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parre E, Ghars MA, Leprince AS, Thiery L, Lefebvre D, Bordenave M, Savouré A (2007) Calcium signaling via phospholipase C is essential for proline accumulation upon ionic but not nonionic hyperosmotic stresses in Arabidopsis. Plant Physiol 144(1):503–512

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Rodríguez VM, Soengas P, Alonso-Villaverde V, Sotelo T, Cartea ME, Velasco P (2015) Effect of temperature stress on the early vegetative development of Brassica oleracea L. BMC Plant Biol 15(1):1–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shen XY, Jie B, Li S, Wang X, Li WJ (2021) Investigation and research on the effect of late spring coldness on the growth of soft seed pomegranate trees. Dec Fruits 53:22–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh P, Patel RM (2014) Factors influencing in vitro growth and shoot multiplication of pomegranate. Bioscan 9(3):1031–1035

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh R, Meena KK, Singh SK (2003) Genetic divergence for yield and its component traits in pomegranate (Punica granatum L.). Ind J Plant Gen Res 16(2):133–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh VK, Tiwari AKM, Singh DK, Pathak SM (2007) Effect of leaf number and area on the fruit growth of regular and biennial bearing mango (Mangifera indica L) grown under north Indian conditions. Intern J Fruit Sci 6(4):77–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sirooeinejad B, Zamani Z, Fatahi MR (2020) Study of physiological and biochemical responses to freezing stress in pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) trees during acclimation and deaclimation cycle. J Hort Sci Biotech 95(3):341–355

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Soloklui AAG, Gharaghani A, Oraguzie N, Eshghi S, Vazifeshenas M (2017) Chilling and heat requirements of 20 Iranian pomegranate cultivars and their correlations with geographical and climatic parameters, as well as tree and fruit characteristics. Hort Sci 52(4):560–565

    Google Scholar 

  • Talebzadeh F, Valeo C (2022) Evaluating the effects of environmental stress on leaf chlorophyll content as an index for tree health. IOP Conf Ser Earth and Inviron Sci 1:1006–12007

    Google Scholar 

  • Tozzi F, Legua P, Martínez-Nicolás JJ, Núñez-Gómez D, Giordani E, Melgarejo P (2020) Morphological and nutraceutical characterization of six pomegranate cultivars of global commercial interest. Sci Hortic 272:109557

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Verslues PE, Kim S, Zhu JK (2007) Altered ABA, proline and hydrogen peroxide in an Arabidopsis glutamate: glyoxylate aminotransferase mutant. Plant Mol Biol 64(1):205–217

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yang SL, Lan SS, Gong M (2009) Hydrogen peroxide-induced proline and metabolic pathway of its accumulation in maize seedlings. J Plant Physiol 166(15):1694–1699

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yang J, Spicer RA, Spicer TEV, Arens NC, Jacques FMB, Su T (2015) Leaf form-climate relationships on the global stage: an ensemble of characters. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 24:1113–1125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yaseen M, Ahmed T, Akhtar NA, Hafiz IA (2009) In vitro shoot proliferation competence of apple rootstocks M9 and M26 on different carbon sources. Pak J Bot 41(4):1781–1795

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yazdanpanah P, Jonoubi P, Zeinalabedini M, Rajaei H, Ghaffari MR, Vazifeshenas MR, Abdirad S (2021) Seasonal metabolic investigation in pomegranate (Punica granatum L) highlights the role of amino acids in genotype-and organ-specific adaptive responses to freezing stress. Front Plant Sci 12:699139

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Yoo JH, Park CY, Kim JC, Do Heo W, Cheong MS, Park HC, Cho MJ (2005) Direct interaction of a divergent CaM isoform and the transcription factor, MYB2, enhances salt tolerance in Arabidopsis. J Biol Chem 280(5):3697–3706

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zarattini M, Forlani G (2017) Toward unveiling the mechanisms for transcriptional regulation of proline biosynthesis in the plant cell response to biotic and abiotic stress conditions. Front Plant Sci 8:927

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to M. Lahlou, M. Alghoum, and C.D Khalfi for their help in experimental orchard management and laboratory work.

Funding

This work was financed by the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries, Rural Development, Water and Forests of Morocco (MCRDV program).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Regional Agricultural Research Center of Meknes, National Institute of Agricultural Research, Avenue Ennasr, P.O. Box 415, 10090, Rabat, Morocco

    Atman Adiba, Anas Hamdani, Zahra El Kettabi & Jamal Charafi

  2. Laboratory of Agro-Industrial and Medical Biotechnologies, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, University of Sultan Moulay Slimane, BP 523, Beni Mellal, Morocco

    Atman Adiba & Abdelmajid Haddioui

  3. Regional Agricultural Research Center of Tadla, National Institute of Agricultural Research, Avenue Ennasr, P.O. Box 415, 10090, Rabat, Morocco

    Hakim Outghouliast

Authors
  1. Atman Adiba
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Abdelmajid Haddioui
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Anas Hamdani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Zahra El Kettabi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Hakim Outghouliast
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Jamal Charafi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

The first version of the manuscript was drafted by AA; JC: conceptualization, writing-reviewing and editing; AH: reviewing and editing, validation; AH, and ZE: contributed reagents.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jamal Charafi.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Adiba, A., Haddioui, A., Hamdani, A. et al. Impact of contrasting climate conditions on pomegranate development and productivity: implications for breeding and cultivar selection in colder environments. Vegetos (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42535-023-00771-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42535-023-00771-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation