Genetic variation for morphological and fruit characteristics among sweet orange accessions

Genetic variation in 27 sweet orange accessions was undertaken at Citrus Research Station (AICRP on Tropical Fruits), Tirupati with three replications of one tree in each accession. The observations on 32 quantitative morphological characters with respect to plant, fruit and quality characters were done following IPGRI descriptors. High GCV and PCV were recorded for seed weight (GCV = 67.24%; PCV = 74.79%) and average number of seeds per fruit (GCV = 33.83%; PCV = 34.16%). Moderate PCV and GCV values were reported for rind thickness (GCV = 19.61%; PCV = 20.39%), width of epicarp (GCV = 17.95%; PCV=20.38%), diameter of fruit axis (GCV= 15.02%; PCV = 15.61%) and fruit weight (GCV = 12.64%; PCV = 13.40%) among fruit characters. The high heritability associated with high genetic advance was observed in petiole length, leaf lamina width, anther length, pedicel length, stamen length, petal length, diameter of fruit axis, rind thickness, fruit weight, width of epicarp, average number of seeds per fruit, seed width, seed weight, ascorbic acid content, titrable acidity, total sugars, reducing sugars and ratio of soluble solids to titrable acids indicating the scope for improving these traits through selection.