Study of myrtle (Myrtus communis L.) genetic resources to promote extensive crop as integration of spontaneous harvests

Uses of myrtle as aromatic plant are related to essential oil extraction fr om leaves (for perfume and food industry) and to liqueur production by cold infusion of fruit. Myrtle uses are largely dependent on harvest from wild plants, although this seems not sufficient to support a further increase of liqueur production. To develop myrtle cultivation as an aromatic crop, inv estigations on germplasm variability were made. Morphological and biometric characters of ecotypes selected from spontaneous populations have been rec orded to obtain a preliminary database for a further clone selection. Usefu l characters for the selection of good clones may be indicated in fruit mea n weight, peduncle length and pulp/seed ratio.