Variability in minerals composition of cucumber genotypes collected from Northern India.

Abstract

Increasing the mineral contents in vegetables through breeding is considered as a suitable strategy to combat mineral deficiencies in human populations. In the present study, 21 morphologically diverse cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) genotypes, comprising 19 germplasm accessions and two commercial varieties were analyzed for moisture, potassium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc contents on a fresh weight (FW) basis. Significant differences in the mineral composition among the genotypes studied were detected. Moisture content ranged from 93.2-97.1%. The macro-minerals such as potassium and magnesium ranged from 124-161 mg and 9.76-17.6 mg/100 g FW, respectively. The micro-nutrients such as copper, iron and zinc ranged from 0.0249-0.0782 mg, 0.255-0.626 mg, and 0.0162-0.281 mg/ 100 g FW, respectively. Phenotypic co-efficient of variation and genotypic co-efficient of variation were high for the minerals studied except potassium. High broad sense heritability (83.14-99.86%) indicated the presence of additive gene effects. Three genotypes, namely, IC538155, IC538121 and IC527405 have been identified as good sources of iron, potassium and zinc. Hence, these genotypes could be utilized in breeding programmes for developing mineral rich cucumber varieties.