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Research Interests: Biology and Agrobiologia
Research Interests: Agronomy, Biology, Genetic Diversity, Population, Microsatellite, and 4 moreMelon, Germplasm, Cucumis Melo, and Túnez
In Tunisia, the olive tree has been cultivated for more than 3000 years by different civilizations, such as the Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, and Arabs. The ancient olive trees, which thrive in harsh environments, are little... more
In Tunisia, the olive tree has been cultivated for more than 3000 years by different civilizations, such as the Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, and Arabs. The ancient olive trees, which thrive in harsh environments, are little known and contain a foremost part of the olive germplasm. This study focused on the chemical oil analysis of the Tunisian millennial olive trees dating from the Roman and the Carthaginians periods. Twenty-eight antique olive trees grown in Tunisia's north to south are the subject of this study. Analyzed according to international standards, the tested accessions present oil with high quality, rich in chlorophyll and carotenes, and highly rich in polyphenols. The oil's fatty acid composition is complete with the international norms with a high oleic acid content, low palmitic and linoleic acid concentrations, and a C18:1/C18:2 ratio ≥ 7. Four oils, in particular, contained substantial levels of polyphenols (500–1632 mg/kg) and a C18:1/C18:2 ...
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The objective of this study is to evaluate the phytochemical constituents and anticoagulant, and antibacterial activities of phenolic extracts obtained from flaxseed. The quantitative estimation of total phenols by the colorimetric method... more
The objective of this study is to evaluate the phytochemical constituents and anticoagulant, and antibacterial activities of phenolic extracts obtained from flaxseed. The quantitative estimation of total phenols by the colorimetric method showed that both aqueous and methanolic extracts are low in these compounds. The evaluation of the antibacterial activity of polyphenols was carried out by the disc method by determining the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The results showed that no antibacterial activity with polyphenols was observed; against the five bacteria tested.The anticoagulant activity of polyphenols was also evaluated in vitro using the cephaline-kaolin (TCK) and Quick time (TQ) tests. The coagulation times obtained on normal plasma indicate that they have moderate activity on both coagulation pathways.
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A study was conducted to compare morphological and genetical data of the main local olive cultivars in Tunisia. This work was conducted in the framework of the activities of the fruit tree network in the Tunisian National Gene Bank.... more
A study was conducted to compare morphological and genetical data of the main local olive cultivars in Tunisia. This work was conducted in the framework of the activities of the fruit tree network in the Tunisian National Gene Bank. Samples were taken from leaves, fruits and stones for morphological characters. DNA was extracted from leaf tissue and 6 EcoRI–MseI AFLP primer combinations were used. The morphological study permitted a specific description of the characteristics for the tested varieties and their repartition into three groups according to the fruit and endocarp quantitative data. Molecular data analysis demonstrated a high degree of polymorphism with an average of 35%. The analysis of AFLP profiles found in our set of olive cultivars showed a wide genetic diversity among olive germplasm. The UPGMA cluster analyses using Jaccard’s index revealed that the genetic diversity was predominantly structured according to fruit size. The data obtained was used for the varietal s...
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Preliminary characterization and morph-agronomic evaluation of millennium olive varieties in Tunisia
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DNA fingerprinting of millennium olive varieties in Tunisia by AFLP markers
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Microsatellite marker-based identification and genetic relationships of millennium olive cultivars in Tunisia
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Morphological and molecular characterization of the main olive varieties cultivated in the region of Hbebsa (North West of
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Oil quality analyses of four autochthon Tunisian olive varieties cultivated in the mountain of Kesra
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Barley has interesting characteristics for human health such as fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, proteins and especially β-glucans, which make it one of the best choices of whole grain. Because of its importance for human... more
Barley has interesting characteristics for human health such as fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, proteins and especially β-glucans, which make it one of the best choices of whole grain. Because of its importance for human nutrition, β-glucan and protein contents were determining factors in the grains quality. The aim of this study was to analyze the nutritional grain quality of North African barley collection. Grain color, protein and β-glucan contents, starch and mineral elements contents were determined in sixteen barley genotypes. Obtained results showed that the average of protein content, varied from 10,76 to 14,13%, the β-glucan content varied from 2,18 to 4,75%, starch content varied from 52 to 60% and mineral elements varied from 1.82 to 2.52. The richest genotypes in terms of protein and β-glucan contents were the naked barley genotypes (V10 and V23) from Tunisia and Egypt respectively. In opposite, these two genotypes were the poorest in mineral elements comparativ...
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Tunisia is one of the oldest agricultural settlements in history. Evidences revealed by archeological excavations indicated that olives were cultivated before about 3000 years in Tunisia. Although the importance of millennium olives,... more
Tunisia is one of the oldest agricultural settlements in history. Evidences revealed by archeological excavations indicated that olives were cultivated before about 3000 years in Tunisia. Although the importance of millennium olives, studies about characterization and evaluation are scarce. The aims of this work were to make a morpho- agronomic characterization of eighteen millennium olive cultivars collected from eight different archeological sites. This work was conducted in the framework of the activities of the fruit tree network in the Tunisian National Gene Bank. Quantitative and qualitative traits were measured in pit, fruit and leaf samples, In order to group the genetic material and evaluate the phenotypic variability, descriptive statistics, cluster analysis, factorial and principal components analysis were used. The 18 accessions were grouped in 2 clusters based on the multivariate analysis of 18 traits. The collection featured phenotypic variability for all the studied t...
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Olive (Olea europaea L.) is one of the oldest agricultural tree crops in Tunisia, where its cultivation started before about 3000 years. Although the importance of millennium olives, studies about molecular biodiversity and evaluation are... more
Olive (Olea europaea L.) is one of the oldest agricultural tree crops in Tunisia, where its cultivation started before about 3000 years. Although the importance of millennium olives, studies about molecular biodiversity and evaluation are scarce. In order to investigate intra cultivar variability on the molecular level, millennium olive samples from nine different archeological sites were studied using AFLP and SSR techniques.6 AFLP primers amplified 237 reproducible bands of which 84 were polymorphic and 10 SSR loci revealed 37 alleles with a mean number of 3.7 alleles per locus and an average heterozygosity rate ranged from 40% to 100% with a mean percentage of 74%. The principal coordinate analysis (PCO) based on AFLP and SSR similarity matrix revealed that the genetic diversity was predominantly structured according to the morphological parameters of the fruit and the endocarp. The data obtained can be used for the varietal survey and construction of a database of millennium oli...
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In the region of Hbebsa, little is known about the olive germplasm, and even though there is an important olive biodiversity, studies about characterization and evaluation are scarce. The aim of this work was to make a molecular... more
In the region of Hbebsa, little is known about the olive germplasm, and even though there is an important olive biodiversity, studies about characterization and evaluation are scarce. The aim of this work was to make a molecular characterization by the use of amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. A total of 13 olive varieties were genotyped using different EcoRI–MseI AFLP primer combinations. Auto radiographs revealed 92 polymorphic markers in a total of 237 detected fragments. A set of redundant marker patterns was identified and deleted from the binary data matrix; data analysis demonstrated a high degree of polymorphism with an average of 35%. The analysis of AFLP profiles found in our set of olive cultivars showed a wide genetic diversity among olive germplasm. The UPGMA cluster analyses using Jaccard’s index and the Principal coordinate analysis (PCO) revealed that the genetic diversity was predominantly structured according to fruit size. The data obtained can...
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In the present paper we focus on the characterization and the conservation of the local minor olive cultivars in Tunisia. Our work was conducted in the framework of the activities of the fruit tree network in the Tunisian National Gene... more
In the present paper we focus on the characterization and the conservation of the local minor olive cultivars in Tunisia. Our work was conducted in the framework of the activities of the fruit tree network in the Tunisian National Gene Bank. The objective is to study the relationship between thirteen autochthon olive varieties cultivated in the regions of “Rouhia”, “Makthar” and “Kesra” localized in the government of “Siliana” (North West of Tunisia). The experimental approach was based on the morphological data of the leaf, fruit and the endocarp as described by the International Olive Council (12). Polymorphism was observed among 18 evaluated qualitative traits, whereas significant differences (p < 0.05) were observed for 11 analyzed quantitative traits. The principal components analysis showed a degree of variability of about 80% for the first two principal components, a percentage sufficiently high to ensure that the PCA plots were representative of the main features of the d...
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Among the countries of the Mediterranean Basin, Tunisia is located at the crossroad for the immigration of several civilizations over the last two millennia, becoming a strategic place for gene flow, and a secondary center of diversity... more
Among the countries of the Mediterranean Basin, Tunisia is located at the crossroad for the immigration of several civilizations over the last two millennia, becoming a strategic place for gene flow, and a secondary center of diversity for olive species. Olive is one of the principal crop species in Tunisia and now it strongly characterizes the rural landscape of the country. In recent years, collecting missions on farm and in situ were carried out by various institutes, with special emphasis given to ex situ collections serving as a reference for the identification of olive germplasm. Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs) represent the easiest and cheapest markers for olive genetic fingerprinting and have been the tool of choice for studying the genetic diversity of this crop in Tunisia, to resolve cases of homonymy and synonymy among the commercialized varieties, to identify rare cultivars, to improve knowledge about the genetic variability of this crop, to identify a hot spot of olive b...
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Our study focuses on the molecular analysis of the genetic diversity within 15 Tunisian durum wheat varieties and the assessment of the efficiency of some available markers to select valuable genotypes for technological proprieties of... more
Our study focuses on the molecular analysis of the genetic diversity within 15 Tunisian durum wheat varieties and the assessment of the efficiency of some available markers to select valuable genotypes for technological proprieties of semolina (i.e. parameters related to SDS-sedimentation, mixing time and breakdown resistance of mixograph, grain protein content and yellow colour). While several markers were validated, others were not informative within the genotypes used. A high level of polymorphic information content (PIC) was detected, with an average of 5.2 polymorph alleles per locus and 0.6 average. Old varieties have high protein content however; modern varieties display strong gluten strength. Our results thus open the opportunity to choose valuable parents on the base of pedigrees, technological properties and genetic distances; and lead us to select efficient markers for the Regional Indigenous Land Strategy (Rils) selection strategy.
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Olive is one of the oldest cultivated species in the Mediterranean Basin, including Tunisia, where it has a wide diversity, with more than 200 cultivars, of both wild and feral forms. Many minor cultivars are still present in marginal... more
Olive is one of the oldest cultivated species in the Mediterranean Basin, including Tunisia, where it has a wide diversity, with more than 200 cultivars, of both wild and feral forms. Many minor cultivars are still present in marginal areas of Tunisia, where they are maintained by farmers in small local groves, but they are poorly characterized and evaluated. In order to recover this neglected germplasm, surveys were conducted in different areas, and 31 genotypes were collected, molecularly characterized with 12 nuclear microsatellite (simple sequence repeat (SSR)) markers, and compared with 26 reference cultivars present in the Tunisian National Olive collection. The analysis revealed an overall high genetic diversity of this olive’s germplasm, but also discovered the presence of synonymies and homonymies among the commercialized varieties. The structure analysis showed the presence of different gene pools in the analyzed germplasm. In particular, the marginal germplasm from Ras Jb...