Multivariate analysis of sesame genotypes under saline stress

Abstract

Sesame is notable for its rich antioxidants and sesame oil is also familiar for its resistance to oxidation. The cultivation of sesame is usually restricted under abiotic stress conditions. Hence in order to study the performance of sesame genotypes to saline stress, an experiment was conducted to screen ten ruling varieties of sesame viz., CO1, SVR1, SVPR1, VRI 1, VRI 2, TMV 3, TMV 4, TMV 5, TMV 6 and TMV 7 at five different EC levels (EC 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5). Seedling observations namely, germination percentage, speed of germination, shoot length, root length and dry matter production were recorded. Among the genotypes, it was found that under higher saline conditions (EC5), VRI 1 recorded higher seedling length (2.0 cm), vigour index I (100) and vigour index II (1.15), whereas under normal condition, TMV 4 and CO 1 performed better. In general, there was a decrease in all the seedling parameters with increased levels of salinity. With STAR software, Multivariate analysis was done and on the basis of dendrogram, five clusters were formed and the cophenotic correlation co- efficient was found highest in Control (0.912) followed by EC 2 ( 0.829).