Morphological diversity in eggplant (Solanum melongena L.), their related species and wild types conserved at the National gene bank in Mauritius

Abstract: Mauritius has rich eggplant genetic resources with important implication for research and conservation. Heterogeneity in pedoclimatic condition and farmers selection have resulted in significant accumulation of wide morphological diversity at both inter and intra specific levels in eggplant landraces. Morphological characterization of 27 S. melongena, two S. macrocarpon, one S. nigrum, three S. violaceum and one S. torvum accessions was conducted. The aim of the present study was to assess and measure morphological diversity in eggplant genetic resources conserved at the National gene bank in Mauritius in order to promote their conservation, effective management, sustainable use and legal protection. 9 quantitative and 14 qualitative traits were characterized based on (IBPGR 1990) eggplant descriptor list. Significant (P < 0.01) correlations were observed between several related traits of high agronomic importance and breeding potentials in selection of genetically divergent parents for hybridization. Yield was positively correlated with leaf area (r = 0.2), fruit length and width (r > 0.5) and fruit weight (r = 0.8) but inversely related with number of fruits per plant (r =- 0.6) and plant height (r = - 0.5). The phenogram constructed through UPGMA clustering method showed the phenetic relationship between S. melongena accessions, their related species and wild types. It classified the S. melongena accessions into Long, Semi long, Round and Oblong cultivar groups based on fruit shape, colour and size. Principal Component Analysis revealed that fruit characters were important marker traits with a large coefficient of variation (> 40 percent) that most effectively discriminated between eggplant accessions and hence useful in establishing a simple but effective eggplant classification system at the gene bank.