TY - BOOK AU - Naveen Kumar, M B AU - Nisha, S K (Guide) TI - Evaluation of cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. var cerasiforme) genotypes for growth yield and quality under protected condition U1 - 635.6 PY - 2023/// CY - Vellayani PB - Department of Vegetable Science, College of Agriculture KW - Vegetable Science KW - Solanum lycopersicum L. var cerasiforme KW - Cherry tomato N1 - MSc N2 - The study entitled ‘Evaluation of cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. var. cerasiforme) genotypes for growth, yield and quality under protected condition’ was carried out at the Department of Vegetable Science, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, from November 2022 to June 2023. The objective of the study was to identify cherry tomato genotypes with high yield and quality under protected condition. The experimental material consisted of twenty nine cherry tomato genotypes collected from different parts of India. Pusa Cherry Tomato-1 was used as standard check. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with two replications. Analysis of variance revealed significant difference among the twenty nine genotypes for all the characters studied. The highest plant height at 120 DAT was recorded in Pusa Golden Cherry Tomato-2 (257.17 cm) which was on par with Punjab Kesar Cherry (248.50 cm), Punjab Sona Cherry (244.33 cm), SLc-20 (242.33 cm), Punjab Red Cherry (239.33 cm), EC-549819 (238.67 cm), Pusa Cherry Tomato-1 (236.83 cm) and SLc-27 (235.67 cm). Lowest plant height (120 DAT) was observed in IIHR-2861 (109.67 cm) which was on par with IIHR-2857 (111.50 cm). The genotype EC-549819 recorded the highest number of primary branches per plant (15.00) and was on par with SLc-20 (14.00). IIHR-2857 was the earliest to 50 per cent flowering (20.00 days) which was on par with Punjab Kesar Cherry (21.00 days), SLc-22 (21.50 days), SLc-25 (21.50 days) and SLc-20 (22.00 days). The highest number of flower clusters per plant was observed in EC-549819 (47.17) which was on par with SLc-14 (45.84), SLc-16 (44.50) and SLc-20 (42.67). The check, Pusa Cherry Tomato-1 exhibited highest number of flowers per cluster (113.17). The highest number of fruits per cluster was recorded in Punjab Red Cherry (18.00) which was on par with the check, Pusa Cherry Tomato-1 (17.00). Punjab Kesar Cherry was the earliest to harvest (59.50 days) which was on par with IIHR-2857 (61.00 days), SLc-17 (61.00 days), IIHR-2859 (61.50 days), IIHR-2860 (62.00 days), SLc-25 (66.00 days), SLc-21 (67.00 days), SLc-14 (69.50 days), SLc28 (70.00 days), Pusa Cherry Tomato-1 (70.00 days) and SLc-2 (70.50 days). The highest number of fruits per plant was observed in Punjab Red Cherry (173.00). IIHR-2862 recorded the highest fruit length of 4.40 cm, which was on par with SLc-18 (4.38 cm) and IIHR-2863 (4.27 cm). SLc-18 recorded the highest fruit girth of 4.58 cm. The highest fruit weight of 33.17 g was recorded in SLc-18 followed by IIHR-2861 (22.33 g) and SLc-27 (19.41 g). The lowest number of locules per fruit (2.00) was observed in EC-549819, Punjab Kesar Cherry, SLc-14 and the check, Pusa Cherry Tomato-1. The highest pericarp thickness was observed in IIHR-2863 (3.60 mm) which was on par with IIHR-2861 (3.55 mm). SLc-25 exhibited the highest 100 seed weight of 0.35 g. The highest number of days for final harvest was observed in Punjab Red Cherry (164.00 days). The highest yield per plant was recorded in IIHR-2863 (1.24 kg) which was on par with IIHR-2861 (1.21 kg). The number of fruits per kg was highest in EC-549819 (1605.67). The highest TSS of 7.35 0Brix was recorded in IIHR-2857 followed by Punjab Kesar Cherry (6.85 0Brix), Punjab Red Cherry (6.35 0Brix), IIHR-2866 (6.25 0Brix) and Pusa Golden Cherry Tomato-2 (6.20 0Brix). Lycopene content was highest in IIHR-2861 (9.51 mg 100g-1 ). The highest ascorbic acid content was recorded in IIHR-2863 (38.58 mg 100g-1 ). The highest reducing sugars was recorded in IIHR-2857 (5.92 per cent) which was on par with Punjab Kesar Cherry (5.63 per cent). Non reducing sugar content was the highest in SLc-2 (1.56 per cent). The estimates of PCV and GCV were high for plant height at 30 DAT, primary branches per plant, flower clusters per plant, flowers per cluster, fruits per cluster, fruits per plant, fruit length, fruit girth, fruit weight, locules per fruit, pericarp thickness, 100 seed weight, yield per plant, fruits per kg, lycopene content, ascorbic acid, reducing sugars and non reducing sugars. Moderate PCV and GCV were observed for plant height at 90 and 120 DAT, days to 50 per cent flowering, days to first harvest, days to final harvest and TSS. High estimates of heritability coupled with high genetic advance as per cent of mean were recorded for all the yield components. Yield per plant exhibited significant positive correlation at genotypic and phenotypic levels with pericarp thickness, fruit length, fruit girth, fruit weight and fruits per cluster. Path coefficient analysis revealed that fruit length exerted highest positive direct effect on yield per plant followed by pericarp thickness, number of fruits per plant, flower clusters per plant, flowers per cluster and fruit weight. Sensory analysis revealed that Punjab Kesar Cherry ranked first for appearance and colour, whereas IIHR-2857 exhibited the highest mean score for flavour, taste, texture and overall acceptability. Based on the yield, quality and sensory evaluation, the genotypes IIHR2857, IIHR-2863, Punjab Red Cherry, SLc-2 and IIHR-2862 were found best performing and suitable for growing under protected condition ER -