Abstract
Sesamum (Sesamum indicum L.), is a very beneficial plant with manifold implementation in human life hence the identification of different species on the basis of morphological basis is indeed a need especially in less developed parts of the world. Morphometric studies of 12 accessions were carried out in order to find out characters which may be used for the delimitation of the accessions. Both quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the leaves, stems, flowers, stipule, node, fruit pods and growth type were studied and coded. Numerical analysis of these character data using cluster analysis – average linkage, single linkage, complete linkage and centroid method delimit the 12 accessions into five cluster groups which conform to the results of the morphological analysis. The results of these morphological variability analyses may set the foundation to detect promising accessions for mapping out future breeding schemes and also will be helpful for other researchers working on other aspects such as medicinal or nutritive consumption of different accessions of this multi-purpose crop. Key words: Morphology, Sesamum indicum, accessions, taxonomy.
Highlights
Sesamum (Sesamum indicum L.), a member of the orderTubiflorae, family Pedaliaceae is perhaps the oldest oilseed known and used by humans (Weiss, 1971)
The diagnostic morphological features used in the delimitation of accessions are the leaf shapes which were observed to be ovate, lanceolate and cordate (Figures 3 to 5); leaf margins- entire, serrate or double serrate; leaf bases- acute, cordate or obtuse; leaf apices- acute or obtuse (Figures 3 to 5 and Table 2); leaf arrangementopposite (Figure 7), alternate (Figure 6), double opposite, alternate spiral or opposite spiral; leaf surfaces- pubescent or glabrous; stem texturepubescent or glabrous; stem colour- green or light green; dot at stipule- black or yellow; corolla colour- cream or purplish white; cymose inflorescence- monochasial cyme, dichasial cyme or polychasial cyme; fruit end form-dentate, cirrhose or cordate (Figure 10) and fruit sizessmall, medium or large (Table 3 to 4 and Figure 9)
The average plant heights range from 67.86 to 115.08 cm in all the accessions with the lowest mean recorded in accession lale-duk (67.86 cm) and the highest mean in Adaw-wula (115.08 cm)
Summary
Tubiflorae, family Pedaliaceae is perhaps the oldest oilseed known and used by humans (Weiss, 1971). Renowned for its high oil content with seeds that can contain up to 60% oil, the oil has a composition that provides good health benefits including high levels of unsaturated fatty acids (80%) and antioxidants. For this reason, sesame oil is widely considered to prevent diseases of different kinds (Pham, 2011). Sesame is a very droughttolerant plant, often called a survivor crop because of its ability to survive in regions where most crops fail (Pham, 2011)
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