Genotypic Variation in Avocado (Persea americana Mill.) Ecotypes for Yield and Quality Traits

Abstract

Avocado is a fruit crop which belongs to the family Lauraceae and order laurales which includes few important spices like cinnamon, bay leaf, camphor and sassafras. It is popularly known as Aguacate, Alligator pear and Butter fruit. The word “Avocado” got its derivation from the Spanish word “ahuacatl” which literally means “testicle” due to the resemblance of the shape. Around 31 ecotypes were selected from the survey using purposive sampling and interview methods during the year 2019-2021. The pattern of variability exhibited by the ecotypes for various characters was substantially disparate. The characters exhibited by the ecotypes resembled either West Indian race or Guatemalan race, most of them leaning towards West Indian. The results indicated the predominance of West Indian race and probable natural crosses between West Indian and Guatemalan trees. The ecotype MYH-1 exhibited good fruit characters like fruit weight (507.33g), fruit length (14.09cm), fruit volume (530ml) and pulp weight (447.67g). MMS-1, though small in size, showed highest fruit thickness (21mm) and pulp:seed ratio (13.7) due to low seed percentage. SGR-6 had highest amounts of total sugars (2.07%) and lowest fat content (4.74%). The ecotype SKA-2 had highest number of fruits (550) with high TSS (9.170B). SGR-3 had highest fat content (10.2%). In the present investigation, high genotypic variation was seen in characters like pulp to seed ratio, number of fruits, fruit volume, average fruit weight, seed weight, fruit yield and pulp weight.