Genetic divergence among Brazilian turmeric germplasm using morpho-agronomical descriptors

• Main Authors: Mário Sérgio Sigrist, José Baldin Pinheiro, Joaquim Adelino de Azevedo Filho, Maria Imaculada Zucchi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brazilian Society of Plant Breeding 2011-01-01
• Series: Crop Breeding and Applied Biotechnology
• Subjects: Curcuma longa; medicinal plant; natural dye; genetic resources; multivariate analysis.
• Online Access: http://www.sbmp.org.br/cbab/siscbab/uploads/c8eb9792-b3aa-bf63.pdf

Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) is a vegetatively-propagated crop which is used as a natural dye in the food industryand also presents many biological active compounds. Turmeric conventional breeding is difficult and often limited to germplasmselection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the genetic divergence among turmeric accessions available in Brazil using sevenmorpho-agronomical descriptors. Overall genetic divergence was low, although some divergent genotypes were identified. Fourmain groups of genotypes were identified and could be further used in breeding programs. Canonical variable analysis suggestedthat some descriptors were more important to discriminate accessions and also that one of the descriptors could be discarded. Theresults provided useful insights for better management of the germplasm collection, optimizing conservational and breeding efforts.