Studies on genetic variability in coriander (Coriandrum sativum)

Introduction

Coriandrum sativum L., commonly known as "Dhania", is an important medicinal, aromatic and seed spice crop belonging to the family Apiaceae (Umbelliferae), with a chromosome number of 2n = 22. It is considered native to the Mediterranean and Near Eastern regions (Bhandari and Gupta, 1993) and is known by different names in India, including "Kothimbir" or "Dhana" in Marathi. The crop is cultivated mainly for its tender green foliage and fruits, which have wide culinary, nutritional and medicinal uses. Coriander leaves and fruits contain several nutrients, while the fruits are also a source of fatty oil and essential oil, with linalool as the major aromatic constituent (Nimish et al., 2011; Beyzi et al., 2017). Its essential oil is utilized in food, flavour, perfume and cosmetic industries, and the crop has also been traditionally valued for its medicinal properties (Asolkar et al., 1992; Mathias et al., 1994; Kumar s.,1977). Coriander is additionally recognized as an important melliferous crop with potential for honey production (Bhalchandra et al., 2014; Abou-Shaara, 2015) [1,3,4,5,10,13,15] . The availability of adequate genetic variability is a fundamental requirement for the genetic improvement of any crop. In coriander, the presence of diverse genotypes provides opportunities for identifying superior plant types and suitable parents for breeding programmes aimed at improving yield and other economically important characters (Rekha, 1994; Chauhan, 2019) [7,19] . The magnitude of genetic variability can be assessed through genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV), phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV), heritability and genetic advance, which help in understanding the relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors and in formulating effective selection strategies (Mangesha and Alemaw, 2010; Pooja and Singh, 2018; Acharya et al., 2020) [2,12,16] . Heritability indicates the proportion of phenotypic variation attributable to genetic differences, while genetic advance estimates the expected improvement through selection. The combined consideration of heritability and genetic advance provides useful information regarding the nature of inheritance and the effectiveness of selection for quantitative characters (Rajput and Singh, 2003) [18] . Therefore, systematic evaluation of coriander genotypes for variability and inheritance parameters is essential for identifying promising genotypes and traits with greater breeding potential. Hence, the present investigation was undertaken to assess the genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance for various growth and yield characters in coriander.

Materials and methods

A field experiment was conducted during the summer season of 2025 at the Instructional-cum-Research Farm, Horticulture Section, Rajarshee Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Government College of Agriculture, Kolhapur. The study included 25 genotypes of coriander laid out in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with two replications. Seeds were sown by the line sowing method and observations on 15 characters were recorded from five randomly selected plants in each treatment.

Result and discussion

The results of the present experiment carried out with 25 genotypes of coriander (Coriandrum sativum) to assess the genetic variability among yield and its component traits are presented under the following headings.

Analysis of Variance

The significance of variation was tested using the F-test. The results of the ANOVA, including mean sum of squares due to replication, treatment and error for all 15 characters, are presented in Table 2. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed highly significant variation amongst the 25 genotypes of the Coriander on all characters evaluated. There was highly significant variation for characters like yield per hectare (123.

Parameters of Genetic Variability

Various genetic variability parameters, including the range of variation, variance components, estimates of genotypic coefficients of variation (GCV) and phenotypic coefficients of variation (PCV), broad-sense heritability, genetic advance (GA) and expected genetic advance as a percentage of the mean, were estimated and are summarized in Table 3. Assessment of variability forms the basis of a successful breeding programme aimed at improving yield and quality attributes. Hence, estimation of genotypic and phenotypic coefficients of variation is necessary to understand the nature and magnitude of variation.

Coefficients of Variation

Genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) and phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) are important measures used to assess the magnitude of variability present in a population. Estimates of PCV, GCV and heritability help predict the effectiveness of selection and the expected genetic improvement in a trait. High values of both the genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) and phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) were observed for leaf/stem ratio (GCV = 42.10% and PCV = 43.56%), number of branches (GCV = 29.84% and PCV = 31.14%), stem girth (GCV = 26.22% and PCV= 27.54%), foliage yield (GCV = 21.50% and PCV = 23.11%), and fresh weight at harvest (GCV = 20.65% and PCV = 22.82%). The high estimates of GCV and PCV for these traits reflect the presence of considerable genetic variability among the genotypes, indicating ample scope for their improvement through effective selection in a breeding programme. The present findings are consistent with the reports of Shiwangi [6,9,14,20,21,22] . Moderate estimates of both the genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) and phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) were recorded for leaf length (GCV = 19.10% and PCV = 20.89%), number of leaves at harvest (GCV = 16.00% and PCV = 17.11%), yield per plot (GCV = 15.27% and PCV = 18.10%), yield per hectare (GCV = 15.27% and PCV = 18.10%), length of main stem (GCV = 12.80% and PCV = 14.91%), and chlorophyll content (GCV = 11.11% and PCV = 11.48%). The moderate magnitude of variation observed for these traits indicates the presence of appreciable genetic variability, suggesting that improvement through selection is possible, although the selection response may be comparatively less pronounced than that of traits exhibiting high GCV and PCV values In the present investigation, PCV values were higher than the corresponding GCV values for all the traits studied, indicating the influence of both genetic and environmental factors on trait expression The findings of the present investigation are in close agreement with those reported by Dhakad et [6,8,9,14,21] .

Heritability (Broad Sense)

The coefficient of variation indicates the extent of variability among genotypes, whereas heritability assesses the effectiveness of selection. When considered together with genetic advance, heritability provides a reliable estimate of the potential for genetic improvement through selection. Broad-sense heritability is particularly useful for identifying superior genotypes in breeding High broad-sense heritability was recorded for for chlorophyll content (93.74%), leaf/stem ratio (93.40%), number of branches per plant at harvest (91.82%), stem girth (90.63%), number of leaves at harvest (87.45%), foliage yield (86.59%), leaf length (83.53%), fresh weight at harvest (81.93%), length of main stem (73.80%), yield per plot (71.19%) and yield per hectare (71.19%). The high heritability estimates observed for these traits indicate that their expression was predominantly controlled by genetic factors, with relatively less influence of the environment. Consequently, these characters are expected to respond effectively to selection and can be utilized efficiently in crop improvement programmes Moderate heritability was observed for days to harvest (59.97%), total plant height at harvest (51.84%), and days to 50 per cent germination (45.87%). The findings of the present investigation are in close agreement with those reported by Kharat et 2022) for days to 50 per cent germination, number of branches per plant at harvest, number of leaves at harvest, and fresh weight at harvest. These authors also reported low to high estimates of heritability in coriander, which supports the findings of the present investigation [6,9,17,20,21,22] .

Genetic Advance as Per cent of mean

Genetic advance represents the expected improvement in the mean performance of a population following selection. While heritability indicates the proportion of variation attributable to genetic factors, it alone does not predict the magnitude of genetic gain. Therefore, heritability, when considered along with genetic advance, provides a more reliable measure of the effectiveness of selection. Estimation of genetic advance helps in assessing the potential improvement achievable for different traits. According to Johnson et al. (1955), genetic advance as per cent of mean is classified as low (below 10%), moderate (10-20%) and high (above 20%). Genetic advance as per cent of mean ranged in low to high range from 0.00% to 83.82% for moisture content and leaf/stem ratio. High estimates of genetic advance as a percentage of the mean were recorded for leaf/stem ratio (83.82%), number of branches per plant at harvest (58.91%), stem girth (51.41%), foliage yield (41.22%), fresh weight at harvest (38.51%), leaf length (35.95%), number of leaves at harvest (30.82%), yield per plot (26.55%), yield per hectare (26.55%), length of main stem (22.66%), and chlorophyll content (22.17%). The high genetic advance observed for these characters, together with their high heritability estimates, indicates the predominance of additive gene action and suggests that substantial improvement can be achieved through simple phenotypic selection. Thanusha and Mohanalakshmi (2026) for number of leaves at harvest, fresh weight at harvest, fresh plant weight, and herbage yield [9,14,20,21] . Moderate estimates of genetic advance as a percentage of the mean were observed for total plant height at harvest (13.16%) and days to harvest (11.76%). These traits are likely to be influenced by both additive and non-additive gene effects; therefore, moderate progress may be expected through selection. The findings of the present investigation are in close agreement with those reported by Kharat et [9,11,17,22] for days to germination and number of branches per plant at harvest.

Conclusion:

The present investigation revealed substantial genetic variability among the 25 coriander genotypes evaluated, indicating considerable scope for genetic improvement through selection. Genotype ACKCO-6 emerged as the most promising for major vegetative and yield traits, while ACKCO-15, ACKCO-21, ACKCO-24 and ACKCO-18 also exhibited desirable performance. High estimates of variability, heritability and genetic advance for leaf/stem ratio, number of branches, stem girth, foliage yield, fresh weight per plant, leaf length, number of leaves, main stem length, yield per plot, yield per hectare and chlorophyll content indicated the effectiveness of direct selection for these traits.

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