Correlations and path analysis between fruit characters and seeds of Benincasa hispida [(Thunb.) Cogn].

Correlaciones y análisis de sendero entre características del fruto y la semilla de Benincasa hispida [(Thunb.) Cogn.]

Correlations and path analysis are important strategies to improve the selection of agronomic traits of commercial interest in various crops. The objective of this work was to estimate the  correlations between 14 biometric characteristics of the fruit and the seed, and the path analysis for the weight of the fruit in B. hispida. 10 families of half siblings were evaluated, in a completely randomized design with five repetitions. Fruit weight showed direct significant phenotypic correlations with pulp thickness, fruit length, fruit width, number of seeds, seed cavity and seed weight, whose coefficients ranged between 0.64 * and 0.91 **, respectively. Seed length showed a significant direct association with the volume of a seed and the weight of a seed, with records of 0.66 * and 0.83 **, respectively. The width of the seed and the volume of a seed showed a correlation of 0.88 **, while the density of a seed presented a significant inverse correlation with the width of the seed and the volume of a seed, with records of -0.73 * and -0.89 **. Indirect effects mainly explained the significant correlation of fruit weight with the variables fruit width, seed cavity, seed weight and number of seeds. The length of the fruit presented the greatest direct and indirect effects on the weight of the fruit. The weight of the fruit and the length of the fruit can be used in the selection of B. hispida to obtain genotypes with greater weight and number of seeds per fruit.

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