GENETIC VARIABILITY STUDIES IN LOCAL ECOTYPES OF Momordica cymbalaria

REKHA CHITTAPUR¹*, R.C. JAGADEESHA^2
1Department of Biotechnology and Crop Improvement, College of Horticulture, Bagalkot, 587104, Karnataka, India
²Department of Biotechnology and Crop Improvement, College of Horticulture, Bagalkot, 587104, Karnataka, India
* Corresponding Author : rekhah20@gmail.com

Received : 21-06-2018     Accepted : 27-06-2018     Published : 30-06-2018
Volume : 10     Issue : 6       Pages : 464 - 466
Genetics 10.6 (2018):464-466

Keywords : Momordica cymbalaria , Underexploited, Characterization, Ecotyopes, Variability, Heritability & Neutraceutical
Academic Editor : Suleyman Cylek
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : Author thankful to University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot, Karnataka 587104, India.
Author Contribution : All author equally contributed

Momordica cymbalaria is one of the nutritious vegetable which is underexploited. In Kannada language it is known by the name Karchikai, in Tamil as Athalakai, in Telugu as Kasarakai and in Marathi as Kadavanchi. It is an underutilized vegetable crop of cucurbitaceae family. Fruits of this crop are small of 2-3cm in length green colour with high neutraceutical values. These fruits are used as vegetable crop in southern parts of India. Iron, Phosphorus, Calcium & Potassium content were high in fruits compared to other species. It also has an antiallergic, antidiabetic, antiulcer, antimicrobial and hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, cardio protective, and hepatoprotective activity. Studies were lacking with respect to improvement aspects. This is the first characterization study conducted in this crop other than its neutraceutical values. Thirteen ecotypes of Momordica cymbalaraia were collected from different areas of Karnataka to estimate the variability parameters. Experiment was conducted in Randomized Block Design in two replications. Observations were recorded for nine yield parameters and variability parameters were estimated. Highly significant differences were recorded for all traits except fruit length among the thirteen treatments. The mean and range values for nine quantitative traits disclose the presence of variability among the germplasm. High range value was reported for number of male & female flowers, fruits per plant and yield per plant which indicates the existence of variation in the collected germplasm. High GCV & PCV values indicates that these traits are less influenced by environmental factors. High Heritability coupled with high GAM was reported for all traits except fruit length which was reported as moderate. The present study confirms the presence of genetic variability among the germplasm from different locations.

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