Correlation Study in Ashwagandha [Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal] and Identify Better Genotypes for North Gujarat Gami R.A.*, Solanki S.D., Patel M.P., Tiwari Kapil, Bhadauria H.S., Kumar Mithlesh Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, C.P. College of Agriculture, S.D. Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar-385 506, Gujarat *email: ramangami@gmail.com
Online published on 15 December, 2016. Abstract Analysis of association between different characters of 36 different genotypes of ashwagandha suggested that the magnitude of genotypic correlation were higher as compared to their corresponding phenotypic correlations in many cases, indicating the inherent relationship among the characters. Main dry root weight per plant was found tobe positivelycorrelated with stem diameter (rg=0.637, rp= 0.505), main root diameter(rg=0.533, rp=0.509), plant height (rg=0.500, rp=0.381), days to maturity (rg=0.191, rp=0.065), main root length (rg=0.083, rp=0.149) and days to flowering (rg=0.009, rp=0.054) indicating these attributes were mainly influencing the dry root yield in ashwagandha. Total alkaloid content had positive correlated with days to flowering (rg=0.308, rp=0.283), days to maturity (rg=0.217, rp=0.195), plant height (rg=0.189, rp=0.163), number of branches per plant (rg=0.249, rp=0.078) and total withanolides content (rg=0.242, rp=0.135). Thus these are an important trait for improving alkaloid content through both genotypic and phenotypic level of selection in ashwagandha. Top Keywords Withania somnifera, genotypic correlation and phenotypic correlations. Top |