Genetic dissimilarity and relative importance of characteristics in banana cultivars through multivariate analysis

Abstract

One of the problems of banana cultivation is the reduced number of productive commercial cultivars, with fruits adequate to market requirements. This paper aimed to study the genetic divergence among 15 banana cultivars by multivariate analysis and determine the relative importance of 35 agronomic and nutritional characteristics. The data were subjected to multivariate analysis of variance. For the application of Tocher Optimization grouping method, the Mahalanobis distance was used. The hierarchical method UPGMA and canonical variables analysis were also used. For the identification of the most important characteristics for dissimilarity, was used the Singh method. There was a higher mean dissimilarity to cultivate Terrinha followed by Marmelo cultivars and Mysore. The smallest measure of dissimilarity was found between the Nanicão and Prata-Graúda cultivars. The characteristics vitamin A content, starch percentage, total soluble sugars, sugars, non-reducing, antioxidant potential, fresh weight of pulp, plant height and fresh weight of the fruit are the most important in the estimation of dissimilarity, are soon to be prioritized in studies future.