Geographical variation in soluble sugar concentrations in seeds from oriental beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) trees of different origins in Turkey was determined using high performance liquid chromatography. The results demonstrated that the most significant soluble sugars, in order of importance, were sucrose, glucose, and fructose. | Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry Turk J Agric For (2013) 37: 221-230 © TÜBİTAK doi: Research Article Effect of geographical variation on the sugar composition of the oriental beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) 1, 2 3 1 4 Deniz GÜNEY *, Zehra Duygu BAK , Fatma AYDINOĞLU , İbrahim TURNA , Faik Ahmet AYAZ 1 Department of Forest Engineering, Karadeniz Technical University, 61080 Trabzon, Turkey 2 Central Fisheries Research Institute, 61250 Yomra, Trabzon 3 Biological Sciences and Bioengineering Program, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabancı University, Orhanlı, Tuzla, İstanbul 34956, Turkey 4 Department of Biology, Karadeniz Technical University, 61080 Trabzon, Turkey Received: Accepted: Published Online: Printed: Abstract: Geographical variation in soluble sugar concentrations in seeds from oriental beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) trees of different origins in Turkey was determined using high performance liquid chromatography. The results demonstrated that the most significant soluble sugars, in order of importance, were sucrose, glucose, and fructose. All free sugars varied significantly (P < ) within and among populations. In general, both total and soluble sugar levels tended to be higher in northern populations compared to southern ones. Cluster and discriminant analyses divided seed sources into 3 distinct groups corresponding to a north, south, and west division of oriental beech populations. Key words: Oriental beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky), provenance, population, seed, sugar 1. Introduction Seed quality is known to be of crucial importance to success in plantation forestry. Chemical composition is the most important quality characteristic. Appropriate care is therefore necessary when selecting seed sources from tree populations for regeneration. Chemical composition can also vary with the genetic origin of the .
