Study of Interrelationships among Different Characteristics of Almond Nut and Their Effects on Nut Weight Using Path Analysis

In order to investigate and determine the relations between almond nut characteristics and kernel weight, an experiment was conducted by selecting some almond tree genotypes with varying nut size (large, medium and small size) in Maragheh region in 2005. During late summer ripe fruits were harvested and some characters including length, width, diameter and weight of nuts and kernels, and diameter of fruit endocarp wall were measured and recorded. Data were subjected to multivariate regression and path analysis. Results indicated that among studied characteristics, length, width and weight of nuts had a significant and positive direct effect on kernel weight at 1%, and on kernel diameter at 5% levels. There was also a negative significant effect of nut width on kernel weight at 1% level, whereas kernel length and nut weight had a significant and positive effect on kernel weight.