Genetic Variation among Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) Varieties on the Basis of Essential Oil Composition and Molecular Markers (ISSR, SCoT, CDDP and CBDP)

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) benefits from a lot of useful medicinal properties. Genetic variance and heritability estimates of traits in a plant's primary germplasms are needed before planning of a new breeding programme. In the present study, the genetic diversity for 14 fennel ecotypes was assessed by using molecular markers (ISSR, SCoT, CDDP and CBDP). Across the cultivars, a total of 102 fragments got amplified, of which 692 were polymorphic. Average polymorphic band per primer was 6.7. The highest amounts of polymorphism were observed in variety RF-145 and RF-205. As per diversity analysis, the polymorphic varieties were screened further for essential oil content. Essential oil content was determined by gas-chromatography–mass-spectrometry. Both varieties were evaluated for their essential oil content and its composition. Essential oil content ranged from 20.05 to 25.21%. Twenty-three major compounds including limonene, p-ocimene, p-ocimene, dihydrotagetone, tagetone, cis-tagetone, trans-tagetone. β-Terpinene, camphene, sabinine, myrcene, β-phellandrene, γ-terpinene, linalool, fenchone, methyl chavicol, trans-anethole, cis-anethole, camphor, estragole, β-elemene, α-himachalene and β-himachalene were detected. In variety RF-145 and 17 major compounds including α-pinene, camphene, β-pinene, myrcene, carvacrol, fenchone, α-terpinene, β-elemene, γ-terpinene, thymol, limonene, trans-anethole, camphor, estragole, camphene, sabinine, myrcene were detected in variety RF-205. Anethole was most abundant compound in both fennel germplasm lines which ranged from a minimum of 69.35% to a maximum of 73.44%.