Morphology of papaya plants derived via anther culture

Abstract

This study was set up to investigate the morphological and fruiting characteristics of anther derived triploid papaya and evaluate their usefulness in commercial fruit production and breeding. A commercial diploid dwarf cultivar, ‘Wonder blight’ and 26 anther derived papaya strains were raised in the same green house. Data were collected on their morphological and fruiting characteristics like trunk height, fruiting height and the sizes of leaves, flowers and fruits. The anther derived papaya strains were variable in height and could be classified into dwarf, semi dwarf and tall. All the anther derived papaya strains bore only female flowers and produced fruits parthenocarpically. Parthenocarpic ability was variable among the strains. The dwarf and semi dwarf strains were fewer than the tall strains and they had good bearing and high yield of fruits. Two dwarf strains particularly produced parthenocarpic fruits that weighed an average of 670.0 and 871.3 g, compared to the diploid cultivar, ‘Wonder blight’, whose fruits weighed 696.4 g. The combination of short stature with a high yield of large fruits means that these strains have a lot of potential for exploitation in both breeding and commercial fruit production.