Collection and Morphological Characterization of Eggplant cultivars (Solanum melongena L.)

Abstract

There used to be a wide genetic diversity of Solanum melongena in Thailand which later declined due to rapid growth of commercial agricultural production. This study aimed to collect, characterize and conserve S. melongena seeds in gene bank in order to prevent the species from genetic diversity loss and to increase the opportunity in future breeding. The morphological characterization of 17 samples of S. melongena was carried out from July 2017 to April 2018 at Phichit Agricultural Research and Development Center. The RCB design with 2 replicates was used as research methodology in this study. Results revealed that the morphological characteristics from germinating to fruiting stages of this species could be divided into four types as follows: 1) Type I- Large round shaped whose fruit length was equal to width. Fruit size was around 3.5 – 5 cm with average to dense flesh. The average number of seeds per fruit was 500. Nine samples belonged to this type, 2) Type II- Small round shaped fruit whose length was equal to width. Fruit size was around 2 – 3 cm. with dense flesh. This type needed 97-112 days to flower and produced more than 150 fruits per plant, and there were more than 3 flowers per inflorescence. The average number of seeds per fruit was around 300. There were 3 samples found in this type, 3) Type III- Ellipsoid shaped fruit whose length was slightly more than width. Fruit’s length was around 4 – 5 cm. It had average and dense flesh with sweet flavour. The average number of seeds per fruit was 500. There were 3 samples found in this type, 4) Type IV- Round broad shaped fruit whose length was less than width. Fruit’s width was around 7 – 9 cm. A few grooves were found throughout the fruit’s surface. The yield was less than 30 fruits per plant. Flesh density was quite loose. The average number of seeds was more than 500 per fruit. There were 2 samples found in this type. Makhuea Krop ‘Vietnam’ (S42), Makhuea Khao Krop ‘Khaophuang’ (S18) and Makhuea Tolae (S71) ranked first, second and third in yield of number of fruits per plant respectively (324.25 – 161.73 fruits/plant). They were categorized as Type II. Makhuea Kan Kob (S38) and Makhuea Phama (S62) which produced less than 30 fruits/plant were grouped in Type IV. The highest weight of productivityrangingfrom 2938.54to2,377.19 g/plant plant was found in Makhuea Pro Muang (S35), Makhuea Lai (S43), Makhuea Khang Kop (S41), Makhuea Pro Phichit 1 (DOAVG 00007) and Makhuea Pro ‘Lai Ri’ (S28) respectively. These eggplants were placed in Types I and II.