Abstract: |
Tomato is the most consumed vegetable crop worldwide, with excellent beneficial health properties
and high content of vitamins, minerals, carotenoids, total antioxidants, and phenolic
compounds. Hence, improving its genotypes is crucial to sustain its production and ensure food
security, principally under the fast-growing worldwide population and abrupt global climate
change. The present study aimed to explore the genotypic variability associated with specific
characteristics in twenty-five diverse tomato genotypes. In addition, the relationships between
growth, yield, and quality traits using both univariate (correlation coefficient, path analysis) and
multivariate (principal component, principal coordinates, canonical variate) analysis methods
were explored. The results indicated that the evaluated genotypes possessed highly significant
variation. This is appropriate for future hybridization through tomato breeding programs. All
evaluated genotypes demonstrated considerable potential to develop strong hybrid vigour for
growth, yield, and quality characteristics. In particular, the genotypes LS009, LS011, and LS014
could be considered promising, high-yielding, and resistant to yellow leaf curl virus infestation
(YLCV) disease parents for future breeding schemes. The number of fruits per plant, fruit diameter,
and fruit weight proved strong positive relationships with fruit yield. Accordingly, these
characteristics demonstrate their importance in improving fruit yield and could be exploited as
indirect criteria for selecting high-yielding tomato genotypes through breeding programs.
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