Characterization of olive progenies derived from a Tunisian breeding program by morphological traits and SSR markers

•The recent olive progenies obtained through controlled crossing broadened morphological diversity.•A considerable amount of variation in morphological traits was found between olive cultivars and hybrid progenies.•Molecular study was able to assess the paternity of the descendants derived from controlled cross breeding program among which both local and foreign olive varieties were used as pollen donors of the table olive ‘Meski’.