Variability, heterosis and interrelationship of contributing traits for yield improvement in parents and hybrids of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L).

Abstract

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is the most prevalent and consumed vegetable crop worldwide because of its higher nutritional content. This study investigates the genetic diversity, principal components, correlations, clustering and heterosis among yield and quality traits of tomato parents and hybrids. Sixteen yield and quality-related attributes were evaluated using a diverse set of parents and their hybrids, revealing significant variation. The principal component analysis identified five principal components explaining 78.67% of the total variance, with a bi-plot highlighting the distribution of parents and hybrids. Five parents (CBESL159, CBESL169, CBESL162, CBESL164, CBESL168), two hybrids (H4, H5) and two double hybrids (H4xH5 and H5xH7) demonstrated widespread dispersion, indicating substantial genetic diversity driven primarily by yield and yield-related traits. The evaluation of heterosis among the hybrids revealed that six hybrids (H1, H3, H4, H5, H7 and H8) and four double hybrids (H5xH7, H1xH5, H8xH7 and H4xH5) exhibited significantly positive heterosis over the standard check hybrids.Further, the study underscores the potential of parents and hybrids for developing strong hybrid vigour regarding growth, yield, and quality characteristics. The number of fruits per plant, single fruit weight and overall fruit yield exhibited strong positive correlations, signifying their implication as indirect selection criteria in tomato breeding programs. These findings provide valuable insights for further breeding programmes to enhance tomato yield and quality through targeted hybridization and trait selection.