VARIABILITY OF QUANTITATIVE PLANT CHARACTERS OF EGGPLANT COLLECTION SAMPLES

Abstract

Purpose. To determine the peculiarities of the variability of the quantitative characteristics of the plant in collection samples of eggplant of different origin during different years of cultivation Methods. During 2021-2023, an eggplant collection consisting of 21 varieties and 10 F1 hybrids of various geographical origins was studied at the experimental base of the Institute of Vegetable and Melon Growing of the National Academy of Sciences. Samples were evaluated by plant height, plant width, number of shoots per plant. Field, biometric, computational and analytical research methods were used. Results. It was found that the height and width of the plant had a tendency to decrease in 2023. The average height of the collection for this year by varieties was 97.4 cm, by hybrids – 98.7 cm. The width of the plant this year was 41.3 cm on average by varieties, by hybrids – 43.4 cm. The lowest plant height was noted variety Hangqi No.1 (81.0 cm on average over the years), the highest plant height is the variety Bambina. (120.7 cm). Among the hybrids, Piatachok F1 was the shortest, Gordita F1 was the tallest (121.7 cm). The smallest plant width among the varieties was the Xingyuun variety (35.3 cm on average over the years), among the hybrids – the Farama F1 hybrid (38.7 cm). The largest plant width is in the Thai Long Green variety (51.3 cm) and in the Gordita F1 and Briska F1 hybrids (49.3 cm). The smallest number of shoots was formed in plants of the Xingyuun variety (2.7 pcs. on average over the years) and the Galchonok F1 hybrid (3.3 pcs.). The variety Luisiana Long Green (6.9 pcs.) and the Purple Dragon F1 hybrid (8.1 pcs.) had the most shoots on the plant. Almost all studied varieties and hybrids were distinguished by weak and medium variability in three characteristics. Only the Zelenenky variety showed itself to be very variable in the number of shoots (CV = 21.16). Among the varieties, the variety Tai Long Green was distinguished by the least variability in height and width of plants, and Louisiana Long Green in the number of shoots on the plant. Among the hybrids, the lowest variability of plant height and width was observed in the Izumrudny F1 hybrid, and the number of shoots per plant in Bibo F1. Thai Long Green and Daejeon Purple varieties showed the least response to the change in growing conditions by plant height, Hangqi No. 1-2 variety by plant width, and Luisiana Long Green by the number of shoots per plant. The most stable among the hybrids were Izumrudny F1 in terms of plant height and width and Bibo F1 in terms of the number of shoots. Conclusions. Thus, breeding studies allowed to determine the levels of variability of quantitative traits of the eggplant plant and to identify valuable collection samples for use in breeding programs.