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ThesisItem Open Access Performance evaluation and variability studies in spine gourd (Momordica dioica Roxb.)(Department of Olericulture, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2012) Archana, K A; KAU; Prasanna, K P: The experiment entitled “Performance evaluation and variability studies in spine gourd (Momordica dioica Roxb.)” was carried out in the Department of Olericulture, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, during October 2011 – February 2012. The major objective of the study was to identify superior spine gourd genotypes with high yield. The other objectives were to genetically catalogue the germplasm and to assess genetic variability, heritability, genetic gain and correlation of different traits with yield. Thirty one accessions of spine gourd collected from different parts of Kerala were grown in randomized block design with two replications. Cataloguing of germplasm exhibited significant differences for all characters studied viz., early plant vigour, plant growth habit, leaf margin and flower colour in both male and female accessions, and also fruit shape, nature of spines, blossom end fruit shape, fruit skin colour, fruit bitterness and seediness in female accessions. The quantitative characters studied were vine length, number of branches per plant, days to first flower opening and duration of the crop in both male and female accessions, and also days to first harvest, days to last harvest, days from flowering to vegetable maturity, total number of harvests, fruit length, fruit girth, average fruit weight, number of fruits per plant, yield per plant, duration of the crop and shelf life in open condition in female accessions. Among these all the characters showed significant difference between the accessions except vine length. From the experiment it could be concluded that the highest yielding accession was MD 227 with an average yield of 110.06 g per plant. The same accession recorded the highest value for total number of fruits per plant (18.25) and total number of harvests (6.0). High genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation was observed for days from flowering to vegetable maturity, total number of harvests and fruit length. Yield exhibited genotypic correlation with number of branches per plant, total number of harvests, fruit length and number of fruits per plant. In path coefficient analysis the highest positive direct effect on yield was exhibited by total number of harvests followed by fruit girth. Based on the selection indices, the accession MD 226 was found to be the most superior one followed by the accession MD 227, MD221 and MD 207. In the organoleptic evaluation the accession MD 161 with the total score of 20 out of 25 was the most accepted one