Evaluation of 130 Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) Genotypes for Future Breeding Program Based on Qualitative and Quantitative Traits, and Various Genetic Parameters

Eggplant is an essential widespread year-round fruit vegetable. This study was conducted using 130 local germplasm of brinjal to select diverse parents based on the multiple traits selection index for the future breeding program. This selection was performed focusing on 14 qualitative and 10 quantitative traits variation and genetic parameters namely, phenotypic and genotypic variance (PV and GV) and genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variation (GCV and PCV), broad-sense heritability (hBS), genetic advance, traits association, genotype by trait biplot (G × T), heatmap analysis and multi-trait index based on factor analysis and genotype-ideotype distance (MGIDI). Descriptive statistics and analysis of variance revealed a wide range of variability for morpho-physiological traits. Estimated hBS for all the measured traits ranged from 10.6% to 93%, indicating that all the traits were highly inheritable. Genetic variances were low to high for most morpho-physiological traits, indicating complex genetic architecture. Yield per plant was significantly correlated with fruit diameter, fruits per plant, percent fruits infestation by brinjal shoot and fruit borer, and fruit weight traits indicating that direct selection based on fruit number and fruit weight might be sufficient for improvement of other traits. The first two principal components (PCs) explained about 81.27% of the total variation among lines for 38 brinjal morpho-physiological traits. Genotype by trait (G × T) biplot revealed superior genotypes with combinations of favorable traits. The average genetic distance was 3.53, ranging from 0.25 to 20.01, indicating high levels of variability among the germplasm. The heat map was also used to know the relationship matrix among all the brinjal genotypes. MGIDI is an appropriate method of selection based on multiple trait information. Based on the fourteen qualitative and ten quantitative traits and evaluation of various genetic parameters, the germplasm G80, G54, G66, and G120 might be considered as best parents for the future breeding program for eggplant improvement.