Variation in the Eggplant (Solanum melongena) Genotypes for Health-Promoting Bioactive Compounds and Agro-Morphological Traits

Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is an important commercial vegetable crop. Thirty-one genotypes were collected from 8 states of India for evaluation of genetic diversity. Nineteen morphological (ten qualitative and nine quantitative) and seven biochemical traits facilitated an assessment of the genetic differences and structure of these eggplant genotypes. The recorded traits of leaf hair, leaf prickles, calyx prickles, fruit pedicel prickles, leaf blade colour, fruit colour, days to 50% flowering, days to first harvest, fruit weight, fruit girth, number of fruits/plant, yield/plant, total phenolics content, antioxidant capacity, chlorophyll content and sugar content were found significantly variable. Many of these characters are of noteworthy socio-economic and nutritional importance and could be used as breeding objectives to improve yield and quality. Result show that in future breeding program of BRBL-1 and IC-89888, yield traits (number of fruits/plant and yield/plant) are important for primary selection. The 2D PCA plot based on biochemical data showed that BRBL-8 was highlighted for its phenolics content, antioxidant properties, chlorophyll content and high sugar content. IIHR-562, IC-261802 and Pant Rituraj have potential for improvement of traits like, number of fruits/plant, yield/plant, total anthocyanin content, phenolics content and antioxidant capacity.