Analysis of Differences in Morphological Indicators and Nutritional Components of 37 Carya illinoinensis Germplasms

Fruit morphological indices and nutritive compositions were measured, differences and correlations were examined, and 37 different pecan (Carya illinoinensis) germplasms were used as materials to comprehensively evaluate the 37 pecan germplasms. The findings indicated that there were substantial differences in the morphological indices of the various pecan germplasms, with ZL42 having the greatest fresh fruit mass and kernel weight, ZL58 having the highest kernel yield, reaching 46.2%, and ML11 having the highest seed yield (43.98%). The fresh fruit mass was positively correlated with kernel weight and kernel mass, according to the correlation analysis of fruit morphological indicators, with correlation coefficients of 0.837 and 0.771, respectively. Fresh fruit mass, kernel weight, kernel mass, kernel yield, seed yield, and shell thickness were found to have a positive leading function in the principal component analysis, while seed shape index played a negative leading role. ZL42, HL30, ZL59, ZL19, and HL38 showed higher comprehensive evaluation in morphological indicators. The pecan had an average crude fat level of 67.98%, with HL43 having the greatest crude fat concentration. ML17 had the highest unsaturated fatty acid content, ZL57 had the highest oleic acid content, and HL40 had the highest linoleic acid content. HL40 also had the highest content of essential amino acids, umami amino acids, sweet amino acids, and medicinal amino acids. The pecan germplasms with better comprehensive evaluations were ZL42, ZL57, ZL58, ZL59, ML3, ML17, ML11, ML29, HL29, HL30, and HL40.