Heritability Studies of Fruit Related Traits in Solanum Lycopersicum L. Germplasm

Abstract

Studies were conducted for the estimation of variability in 20 tomato varieties/hybrids for fruit length, fruit width, pericarp thickness, fruit firmness at pink stage and fruit firmness at red stage. Analysis of variance revealed significant variation in tomato germplasm for all quality traits. Heritability estimates were higher for all the characters, whilst genetic advance was high only for fruit width and fruit length. Estimates of heritability and genetic advance for these traits suggest that direct selection may be more effective, and the plant material for other characters can be improved through hybridization and selective breeding.