Screening of mango hybrid population for identifying nutritionally rich hybrids - A special focus on carotenoids

In the present study 109 F₁ hybrids were evaluated for nutraceuticals such as total antioxidants, total phenols,total flavonoids and total carotenoids to identify nutritionally rich superior hybrids in mango. Genetic variabilityassessed for genetic parameters viz., genotypic variance, phenotypic variance, genotypic coefficient of variation(GCV), phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV), heritability and genetic advance shown the presence of widegenetic variability in F₁ hybrid population of mango for nutritional compounds. The total phenol content variedfrom 22.78 to 170.14 mg 100g⁻¹ of pulp, total flavonoids from 5.07- 37.33 mg 100g⁻¹, total carotenoids rangedfrom 1.42 - 16.79 mg 100g⁻¹ and the total antioxidants were in the range of 0.26-1.43 μmol Trolox 100g⁻¹ of pulp.The narrow difference between phenotypic coefficient of variation and genotypic coefficient of variation forall the traits indicated the predominance of genotypic variability. The broad sense heritability (H²) for all thecompounds was high indicating that phenotype aptly reflects its genotype. In conclusion, the four carotenoidsrich hybrids viz. H-4509 H-3432 H-4252 and H-3946 were identified with 16.79 100g⁻¹, 11.37 100g⁻¹, 10.42 100g⁻¹ and 10.03 100g⁻¹ carotenoids content respectively. These hybrids could possibly serve as elite parents in cropimprovement programme.