Morphological Characterization of Existing Cucurbitaceas Germplasm in the National Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Innovation

Abstract

The aim of this study was to characterize 30 ac­cessions from the Cucurbitaceae family, sourced from the National Germplasm Bank of Bolivia - Vegetables, a division of the National Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Innovation (INIAF). The research was conducted during the 2017-2018 agricultural season at the Vegetable Seed Production Center in Sipe Sipe, Cocha­bamba. 63 characteristics were evaluated, en­compassing 44 qualitative and 19 quantitative traits. Qualitative data were analyzed using prin­cipal component analysis, revealing that the first seven components explained 63.44% of the variation out of a total of 29 out of 44 that ac­counted for the overall interpretation. These data were also used to generate a similarity matrix using the Jaccard coefficient. A cluster analysis was applied employing the Average (UPGMA) method and the R² distance metric. Conversely, quantitative data underwent multivariate vari­ance analysis based on clustering. This analysis unveiled six clusters that corresponded to the taxa Cucurbita ficifolia, Cucurbita maxima, Cu­curbita pepo, Cucurbita moschata, Lagenaria siceraria, and Cucumis melo. These clusters also exhibited significant differences across 19 quan­titative characteristics. Clusters were identified as either early (Clusters 3 and 4) or late (Clusters 5 and 6), in addition to varia­tions in fruit weight and other attributes. Lastly, the impact of select­ed characteristics on fruit yield per plant and seed yield per plant within the Cucurbita maxi­ma and Cucurbita pepo clus­ters was analyzed. Traits such as cotyledon length, number of fruits per plant, and fruit weight, among others, were found to be correlated with these yields.