Morphological diversity in gboma eggplant (Solanum macrocarpon) as assessed with conventional and Tomato Analyzer descriptors

Abstract

[EN] The vegetable crop gboma eggplant (Solanum macrocarpon) and its wild ancestor S. dasyphyllum are native to Africa. Although it is an important crop in certain areas, there are few studies on gboma eggplant diversity and breeding. We have studied the morphological diversity of a collection of 11 accessions of S. macrocarpon and 1 accession of S. dasyphyllum using conventional descriptors for common eggplant (S. melongena) as well as the phenomics tool Tomato Analyzer. Results revealed that the gboma eggplant collection studied is highly diverse, with signi�����icant differences among accessions for 27 traits. Also, signi�����icant differences were found between S. macrocarpon and S. dasyphyllum for 14 traits, revealing that both species present considerable morphological differences. The large diversity found in the collection found indicates that selection and breeding can result in considerable improvement in this crop. Results also reveal that common eggplant descriptors and Tomato Analyzer are adequate tools to describe the variation present in gboma eggplant.