COLLECTING GENETIC DIVERSITY OF EGG-PLANT AND ITS WILD RELATIVES FROM SOUTH INDIA

Abstract

From five exploration and collection trips undertaken in Southern Peninsular
region, 216 accessions of Solanum melongena var. melongena, 1 of S. macrocarpon
and 134 lines belonging to 25 wild species, exhibiting rich variability in plant
and fruit morphology were sampled. This includes a number of rare genotypes/
land races of egg plant and its related species. A large number of indigenous
and introduced naturalized species widely occur, particularly in pockets of Western
Ghats.