Assessment of Morphotypes of False Sesame (Ceratotheca sesamoides Endl.) in Burkina Faso

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the agro-morphological diversity of Ceratotheca sesamoides accessions in Burkina Faso. A series of 49 accessions from four regions of Burkina Faso in two different climatic zones were studied. A randomised Fisher block design with three replications was used to set up the experiment. The study revealed the existence of agro-morphological variability within the Ceratotheca sesamoides species during plant development. This variability was most notable in stem colour, stem pubescence and leaf shape and margin. The difference between accessions in terms of qualitative characteristics was confirmed by the chi-2 test. Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) on the basis of the qualitative and quantitative variables was used to divide the 49 accessions into four groups on the basis of their differences due to the diversity of the species in Burkina Faso. Each of the groups obtained contains accessions with specific characteristics linked to the harvesting area and performance. For example, group 1 obtained from the MCA contained variables with better leaf biomass and length performance.