Evaluation of Variation and Fruit Characterization of Pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata Duch.) Populations Collected From Black Sea Region

Abstract

Pumpkins are one of the most important Cucurbit crops in Turkey. In this research, 17 populations of pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata Duch.) were collected and identified from different provinces of the Black Sea region in 2006 and 2007 and phenotypic diversity in their fruit characters was assessed. The collection showed appreciable phenotypic variation in fruit shape, fruit colour, fruit brightness, fruit dimensions, fruit number and fruit weight. Cluster and principal component analysis (PCA) were performed to determine relationships among populations and to obtain information on the usefulness of those fruit characters for the definition of groups. Cluster analysis based on 13 quantitative and 5 qualitative variables identified 7 different groups. The first six principal component axes accounted for 85.38 % of the total multivariate variation among the populations. The dendrogram was prepared to evaluate morphological similarity between the pumpkin genotypes. It revealed high variation. This evaluation of fruit trait variability can assist geneticists and breeders to identify populations with desirable characteristics for inclusion in variety breeding programs.