Leek (Allium ampeloprasum) is a monocotyledonous plant from Liliaceae family. Through botanist's viewpoint, it is considered as biennial, although it is known as short-lived, annual crop in commercial cultivation. Iranian Leek is a macro consumed leafy vegetable which is believed to have food and pharmaceutics properties. Some of these properties are attributed to the total phenolic content and the antioxidant activity. Despite the economic and pharmaceutical importance of this plant, very few molecular studies have been conducted to investigate the genetic diversity of Iranian leek. It seems that evaluation of molecular relationships between domesticated and wild populations using genetic markers may affect identification of valuable features of this native plant. In addition, measuring the antioxidant activity of this plant along with the molecular comparisons provides more comprehensive viewpoint and deeper understanding for identification of this plant. In this research, cultivated populations including Dastgerd, Zayandeh-rood, Shadegani and Shahreza, wild populations including Ilam, Babol, Sari and Jahrom, and a leek population as out-group were evaluated using SRAP marker. The ten primer combinations amplified 397 fragments which all of them were polymorphic. Over all primers, the average PIC value was calculated 0.232. Cluster analysis was conducted using Dice similarity matrix and UPGMA algorithm with a cophenetic correlation of 0.916. The achieved cluster diagram separated cultivated and wild populations as well as the Ilam's dissociated from other ones. Since each wild and cultivated population is originated from different subdivisions, it is possible that the Ilam population has its own original subdivision. Results of principal component analysis (PCA) revealed a sufficient distribution of marker all over the genome. Total phenolic contents of populations was determined by means of spectrophotometry using Fulin-Ciocalteu method and antioxidant properties were evaluated by DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) model system after the methanolic extraction. The amount of phenolic compounds was not high enough in the Iranian leek populations and it was varied from 6.535 to 19.716 mg Tannic acid/g dry weight. The highest total phenolic compounds is reffered to Dastgerd population followed by Sary and Ilam populations. The highest percentage of free radical DPPH inhibition was reported in Ilam population. The Ilam wild population that justify; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; unicode-bidi: embed; DIRECTION: ltr" Key words: Iranian leek, Genetic diversity, SRAP marker, Antioxidant, DPPH.
