Heritability of yield and fruit characteristics in Solanum quitoense Lam.

Abstract

The lulo (Solanum quitoense Lam.) is a fruit tree of great importance for southern Colombia, given its demand and its potential as an exotic fruit in the international market. However, there is no information on variation and heritability, fundamental aspects for evaluating selection. The objective of this research was to estimate the heritability of yield, fruit weight (FW), total soluble solids (TSS) and maturity index (MI) in half-sib families (HSF) of lulo from the first cycle of recurrent selection. Strict sense heritability ( h e 2 ) across four locations in the 50 HSF were low for yield, MI and for FW, while for TSS it was high. The 50 FMH showed a high h e 2 in yield in Arboleda, Cartago, Tangua and La Unión. TSS was high in all four locations. For FW it was moderate in Cartago, Tangua, La Unión and Arboleda. In MI it was high in Tangua and La Unión and low in Arboleda and Cartago. The h e 2 in 10 HSF selected across four locations presented values higher than 50 HSF, with a high value for yield in Arboleda, moderate in Cartago and Tangua and low in La Unión; In FW it was high in Arboleda, Tangua and La Unión, and moderate in Cartago. The results indicate the existence of adequate genetic variance to be able to select and achieve high genetic gain in the traits evaluated in HSF of lulo.