Phenotypic Diversity Assessment of Okra (Abelmoschus Esculentus (L.) Moench) Genotypes in Ethiopia Using Multivariate Analysis

Abstract

Okra is a minor crop that has not gained research attention in Ethiopia. Characterization of such underutilized crops has important implications for their utilization. Thus, this study was conducted to assess the genetic diversity of okra genotypes in Ethiopia using agromorphological and biochemical markers. Thirty-six okra genotypes were evaluated for 29 agromorphological and biochemical traits. The results of the analysis of variance showed significant differences among genotypes for most of the traits, except for the number of flower epicalyx and fruit diameter. Results of the principal component analysis indicated that the first eight principal component axes accounted for 3.83 to 30.54% and 82.44% of the total variability. Genetic distances estimated by Euclidean distances from 27 traits ranged from 3.55 to 14.49. The 36 genotypes were grouped into four distinct clusters from the Euclidean distance matrix using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA). The first cluster contained 24 (66.66%) genotypes, and the second cluster contained 10 (27.77%) of the genotypes. This study showed the presence of considerable genetic variation among the genotypes for most of the traits, including fruit yield, seed yield, and nutrient content of seeds, indicating the possibility of using these genotypes to develop okra varieties with high fruit-yielding and good nutritional content.