Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) is an aromatic member of the Apiaceae with a wide diversity of uses (Diederichsen 1996). Its rapid life cycle allows it to fit into different growing seasons, making it possible to grow the crop under a wide range of conditions. Three subspecies and 10 botanical varieties of coriander have been proposed at the infraspecific level (Diederichsen and Hammer 2003) based on phenotypic characteristics; however, molecular evidence does not support classifications based on phenotypic and/or biochemical characteristics (López 2006).

The objectives of our study were to assess the phenotypic and biochemical characteristics of coriander germplasm collections that would make them suitable for different uses and to use amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) (Vos et al. 1995) to clarify patterns of genetic diversity and its partitioning among these populations, by means of an analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) (Excoffier et al. 1992).