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Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) benefits from a lot of useful medicinal properties. Iran is known as one of the main producers of fennel. In spite of high medicinal values, fennel’s cultivation is not economically feasible, mainly due to its low yield. It grows wild in different areas in Iran from where diverse ecotypes have evolved. Genetic variance and heritability estimates of traits in a plant’s primary germplasms are needed before planning of a new breeding program. In the present study the genetic diversity and broad sense heritability for 50 fennel ecotypes were assessed under field conditions for a duration of two years. Seed yield, essential oil content and some morphological traits were recorded during a two experimental years. Through stepwise regression, the yield affecting traits and essential oil content were determined. During the first and second experimental years the most effective traits affecting essential oil content were found to be the number of leaves per plant and days to 50% flowering, respectively. The weight of dry biomass affected seed yield the highest during any of the two years and for each separate year. The broad sense heritability during the two experimental years, for essential oil content and seed yield, were 0.46 and 0.63, respectively. However, some such traits as, days to 50% flowering and length of middle internodes showed higher comparative heritability (0.90 and 0.79, respectively). The high heritability of the studied traits in this germplasm indicates the germplasm’s high genetic potential to be made use of in breeding programs.

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Ajowan is an important medicinal plant that grows mainly in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. To evaluate salinity tolerance of 25 Iranian ajowan ecotypes, three-step screening was conducted at germination, seedling, and adult plant growth stages using 0, 50, 100 and 150 mM of NaCl. The significant effects of salinity were observed at the three studied growth stages of ajowan ecotypes. Germination percentage, seed vigor, and biomass dry weight of investigated ecotypes decreased with the increase in NaCl levels. Different responses were observed among ajowan ecotypes in terms of activity of antioxidant enzymes of catalase and peroxidase, with the increasing salinity stress levels .Under the salinity stress, the proline content increased in the majority of the investigated ecotypes. Salinity stress had adverse effects on single plant seed yield and yield components. Results of the calculated correlation coefficient and path coefficient analysis showed that activity of catalase antioxidant enzyme and 1,000-seed weight were the most important characteristics that can be suggested as selection criteria for seed yield of ajowan under salinity stress conditions. The overall results suggest that nine Iranian ajowan ecotypes including Arak, Felaverjan, Ghoom, Hamedan, Karaj, Ghaen, Tehran, Yazd, and Shiraz were the salinity-tolerant ecotypes.