Molecular and Chemical Characteristics of Allium tuncelianum: An Endemic Edible Allium Species in Turkey

Allium tuncelianum which is a phylogenetically close relative of cultivated garlic (A. sativum L.) naturally grows in eastern part of Turkey. The species has mild garlic odor and is consumed locally as garlic by collecting from its natural flora. This over collection threatens the species with extinction. Although it morphologically resemblance cultivated garlic, the genetic diversity and biochemical characteristics of the species is not well known. The purposes of this study were to reveal genetic diversity among A. tuncelianum genotypes by using EST-SSR markers which were developed from garlic genome, to determine some biochemical contents of A. tuncelianum and compare with cultivated garlic. Among 26 garlic EST-SSR markers, 15 EST-SSR markers were amplified in A. tuncelianum genome successfully. Fifteen EST-SSR markers generated 85 polymorphic markers among 44 A. tuncelainum genotypes analyzed. Genetic similarity based on dice similarity matrix ranged from 0.32 to 0.86. UPGMA dendrogram revealed that all analyzed genotypes were genetically distinct from each other. Generally, mineral contents of A. tuncelianum were similar to cultivated garlic except phosphor, sulphur and selenium contents which were higher in cultivated garlic. While total sugar content of A. tuncelianum was higher than cultivated garlic’s content, total protein content was two times lower than cultivated garlic’s content. These results indicate that A. tuncelianum is a voluble species as a germplasm and food source.