Genetic interrelationship among nutritional and quantitative traits in the vegetable amaranth

Abstract

The present investigation was conducted to elucidate the interrelationship among various agronomic andquality traits and their direct and indirect effect on foliage yield in 39 distinct cultivars of vegetable amaranth (A. tricolor).Among the agronomic traits, plant height and number of inflorescence exhibited significant positive association with foliageyield, while chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoid, fiber and ascorbic acid were positively correlated with foliage yield.Chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b exhibited significant positive association with carotenoid, fiber and ascorbic acid. Ascorbicacid was positively correlated with fiber and carotenoid. Protein was associated with plant height, branches per plant and 500seed weight. Chlorophyll a, carotenoid and inflorescence length revealed high positive direct effect on foliage yield, whilebranches plant-1, leaf size, seed yield, chlorophyll b, moisture content and ascorbic acid showed negative path coefficient withfoliage yield. Suitable traits have been marked out to enhance foliage yield in vegetable amaranth.

Keywords

• A. tricolor
• genetic association
• carotenoid
• protein
• ascorbic acid.