Abstract
Evaluation of 100 Indian Musa accessions (IMA) for nine elements in their fresh fruit pulp (FFP) revealed genetic variability of 4.7-fold for K & Mg to 111.1-fold for Ca but, only with either highly or moderately positively skewed distribution. The descending order of mineral concentrations (MC) was K > Ca > Na > Mg > Fe > Mn > B > P > Zn. 100 g FFP contributes fairly about 5 (Fe) to 10% (Mn, Ca & Mg) of daily mineral requirement of Indians. Calcium (97%) and Fe (96%) showed the highest heritability while Zn exhibited lowest (85%). Significantly positive correlation was observed for all minerals. Magnesium had maximum direct effect on Fe content followed by Mn, Zn and Na in path analysis. Both principal component analysis and cluster analysis failed to group the IMA according to their ploidy/genome/subgroups. Twenty commercial cultivars were placed in top 10 positions based on their MC. Besides Ca and Mg, IMA were richer for all micronutrients than the world’s Musa gene-pool.
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