Morphological, biochemical and molecular characterisation of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera L. Dunal) genotypes
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Date
2023-02
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CCSHAU, Hisar
Abstract
The present experiment was carried out with sixty genotypes of ashwagandha for their twenty-seven quantitative and
qualitative characteristics with the aim to characterize the sixty ashwagandha genotypes on the basis of morphological,
biochemical, and molecular markers. The field studies were undertaken at the research field of Medicinal, Aromatic
and Potential crop section, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, Chaudhary Charan
Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana, during the Kharif seasons of 2020 and 2021. Analysis of
variance revealed that the differences among the genotypes for maximum characters under study were highly
significant. In correlation study, dry root yield per plant exhibited a significantly high and positive correlation with
plant height, number of primary branches per plant, number of secondary branches per plant, root length per plant, the
average diameter of root per plant, harvest index per plant, biological yield per plant, number of secondary roots per
plant, root girth per plant, fresh root yield per plant, fresh stem yield per plant, dry stem yield per plant, and surface
area of root per plant. Path analysis had shown maximum positive direct effects on dry root yield per plant by days to
50% flowering, plant height, number of primary branches per plant, number of secondary branches per plant, number
of berries per plant, biological yield per plant, harvest index per plant, root girth per plant, root length per plant,
average diameter of root per plant, number of primary roots per plant, number of secondary roots per plant, dry matter
content of root per plant, fresh root yield per plant, dry root yield per plant, fresh stem yield per plant, dry stem yield
per plant and surface area of root per plant. Using Tocher’s method, sixty ashwagandha genotypes grouped into five
different clusters. Cluster 2 was the largest one with 22 genotypes, followed by cluster 3 with 14 genotypes, while
cluster 4 was the smallest and included 7 genotypes. A dendrogram of molecular data analysed with DARWIN
software classified 60 promising ashwagandha genotypes into three groups. The highest number of genotypes were
grouped into cluster 1 with 35 genotypes, followed by cluster 2 with 24 genotypes, and the lowest number of genotypes
were found in cluster 3 with 1 genotype. On the basis of per se performance, genotypes HWS-1201, HWS-1321, and
HWS-205 were found to be the best for dry root yield and yield contributing traits. Therefore, these can be successfully
utilized as parents in future breeding programmes for improvement of dry root yield performance. Genotypes RAS-
16, HWS-08-4, HWS-08-6, JA-134, HWS-137, HWS-110, and HWS-123 were found to be best for total alkaloid and
withanolides production in ashwagandha.