Heirloom tomato cultivars and local populations as sources of genetic variability for breeding

Abstract

Five local tomato populations and fourteen heirloom cultivars were analyzed in this study. The analyzed genotypes represent a part of tomato collection of Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops in Novi Sad. The following fruit and plant traits were analyzed: growth type, fruit color, fruit shape index, fruit weight, number of locules and dry matter content. Cluster analysis was performed so as to group the analyzed genotypes by homology and divergence. The aim of this article was to determine the importance of heirloom cultivars and local populations as sources of genetic variability in tomato breeding process.

Keywords

• cluster analysis
• heirloom cultivars
• local populations
• tomato
• variability