Paper Title
Selection Program of Arbutus Andrachne L. (The Greek Strawberry Tree) Fruits from Mediterranean Part of Turkey

Abstract
The Greek strawberry tree (Arbutus andrachne L.), which is an important fruit species for wildlife, naturally spread in the nature of our country; it is seen as an important species when the fruit can be consumed fresh or dried, its potential to be an ornamental plant and its pharmacological properties.Until today, some superior genotypes have disappeared from the natural flora because of cut as firewood. A selection program was carried out with the aim of selecting Greek strawberry tree genotypes of high quality from the native population grown in the Mediterranean Region of Turkey.A total of 110 genotypes were evaluated in the program, in 2018. The aims of the selection program were focused on fruit pomological characteristics such as fruit size, yield, fruit taste, total soluble solid and fruit colour. The data regarding pomological characteristics was evaluated by the Weighted Rankit method. It was determined that all genotypes included in the experiment showed superior characteristics, and the data of 10 genotypes (07-AA-14, 07-AA-22, 07-AA-28, 07-AA-29, 07-AA-57, 07-AA-68, 07-AA-73, 07-AA-81, 07-AA-87, 07-AA-109) with full scores were evaluated.The features, class scores and relative scores based on the Weighted Ranking method used in the selection program were determined as follows; 10-7-3 (large-medium-small) and 25 for fruit size, 10-8-2 (high-middle-low) and 25 for yield, 10-7-2 (high-middle-low) and 25 for fruit taste, 10-7-3 (high-middle-low) and 15 for total soluble solid, 10-7-3 (good-medium-bad) and 10 for fruit colour. In addition, fruit width, fruit length, fruit index and colour measurement values (L*, a*, b*) of all genotypes included in the selection program were determined. Finally, ten superior Greek strawberry tree genotypes were selected from the samples we studied for extensive cultivation and thus they were also saved from extinction. Keywords - Arbutus andrachne, Selection, Antalya, Turkey