Abstract:

Scarlet Eggplant seeds (Solanum aethiopicum L.) from some West
African countries, particularly Ghana and Togo, had been collected under
. the auspices of the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources
(IBPGR). Some other seeds had been obtained from Uganda and other
African countries.
A total of forty-four accessions of Solanum aethiopicum groups Gilo,
evaluation. A study of these collections was made using morphological
and biochemical characters. Seventy-four vegetative and floral characters
were recorded on each accession. The collected data were subject to
Cluster Analysis and Principal component Analysis for numerical Taxonomy.
The numerical taxonomy studies showed that species, groups and accessions.
could be identified by such means. Some morphotypes or cultivars can be
differentiated.
diversity.
Five accessions belonging to groups Gilo and Shum were subjectively
selected for studies of variations between and within accessions. Analysis
of variance indicated that some characters could be used to differentiate
species.
Leaves of different accessions, groups and species were analysed for
amino acids, alkaloids and flavonoids. The results revealed that flavonoids
are not good characters for differentiating the taxa under investigation.
Higher amounts of essential amino acids were present than those found in
other leafy vegetables like broccoli, cabbage and lettuce, but comparable
Alkaloid content in different
a wide range of genetic
Enzyme-etched seeds were used for scanning electron Microscopy (SEM).
Differentiation was shown to be possible only between some species, but
not between groups or accessions of S. aethiopicum.
Crosses between groups Gilo, Shum and Kumba were made. Eruit formation
took place but study of the F progeny will be necessary to confirm the
interfertility of these taxa.