Several morphological characters shared by among the first group include presence of spine along leaf margin,
linear leaf shape and subulate leaf apex. Most of cultivar in this group has cylindrical fruit shape except for
Yankee which has tapered-shape fruit. Both of MR Bentanggur and MR Gajah form second group with 99%
nucleotide sequence similarity. Morphologically, this two cultivar shares most of common characteristic such
leaf with rough, long and closely arranged spine along their margin, subulate leaf shape with rough leaf
surface and cylindrical fruit shape with projected eye. Group 3 represented by N36 and Sarawak. N36 was the
product of hybrid between Gandul and Sarawak. This cultivar shares 75% sequence similarity with Sarawak.
This result supported by morphological data which shows N36 cultivar much more resembles Sarawak. They
shares majority of morphological characteristic such smooth and shiny leaf surface, presence of spines on
their leaf and green colour of upper surface and whitish green on lower surface of their leaf. N36 and Sarawak
also has cylindrical fruit shape [15].
Classification and identification of pineapple cultivar are important for record and documentation purposes.
Until today, morphological-based taxonomy was still main basis for identification. However this method
requires expertise with adequate experience for identification of cultivar correctly and longer time required
[16]. Moreover, this method usually provides inconsistent data since phenotype of the cultivar were highly
influenced by the environmental factor [17]. Thus, molecular approach becomes a promising method for
pineapple cultivar identification. By directly looks into genetic materials which are the DNA, influence of
external factor such as environment can be avoided. This genetic material has been passed by ancestral to
their offspring. Surely, the DNA inherited by the offspring will reflect their ancestor. Cultivar which is highly
similar in their morphology and difficult to be identified also can be distinguished by molecular method due
to presence of variation in DNA sequence among species [18]. With advancement in PCR and sequencing
technology, identification of pineapple cultivar could be done in rapid, effective and cost-effective manner.
Some of molecular study also already carried on pineapple such isozymes, RAPD, AFLP, RFLP and cpDNA