Pulp colour and pigment composition have no genetic correlation with seed hardness in guava ( <i>Psidium guajava</i> L.)
Pooja Bishnoi, Madhubala Thakre, Poonam Maurya, Shubham Jagga, Nayan Deepak Gangappa, A. Nagaraja, Mahendra Kumar Verma, S. Gopala Krishnan, Eldho Varghese, Amitha Mithra Sevanthi
Abstract
Guava (Psidium guajava L.) is a ‘super fruit’, also known as the ‘apple of the tropics’. This study was conducted on five guava parents and their 42 F1s. They were studied for their pigment composition (lycopene, total anthocyanin, and total carotenoid content) and seed-based parameters (seed hardness, index, length, and width). Transgressive segregation was present for pigment composition, seed index, and seed hardness. For lycopene and total carotenoids content, F1s had maximum values. However, for total anthocyanins content, only guava parent BG had a considerably higher value (8.881 mg/100 g) and had a purple pulp colour. Most F1s belonged to the soft seed category (28 F1s out of 42) and intermediate seed index 1–1.5 g (24 F1s out of 42). The findings indicate that, in guava, pulp colour is not correlated with seed hardness. However, a significantly positive correlation between seed hardness and other seed-related parameters (namely seed index, seed length, and seed width) indicates that a bigger seed size is associated with seed hardness.