Genetic diversity of durian hybrids based on morphological characters.

Hybridization can be performed to enhance durian cultivars in order to achieve the desired ideotype. The purpose of this study was to determine the genetic diversity of durian hybrids using morphological features. The research was conducted at Aripan Experimental Station of Indonesian Tropical Fruit Research Institute (ITFRI) from January 2019 to May 2021. The plant materials used in this study were the result of intra- and inter-species hybridization, yielding a total of twelve durian hybrids. Fruit weight, fruit stalk length, flesh thickness, pulp unit number per carpel, fruit rind thickness, edible portion, seed number per fruit, and seed weight average were observed quantitatively, while fruit structure, flesh color, taste, and texture were noticed qualitatively. The means, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation of quantitative features were determined, whilst qualitative characters were presented descriptively. The program Numerical Taxonomy and Multivariate System version 2.02 (NTSys) was used to calculate similarity indices and perform cluster analysis. The results indicated that durian hybrids 93(11) outperformed 72A(12) in terms of fruit weight, flesh thickness, edible part, flesh color, and texture. These hybrids may be considered as superior variety possibilities. Twelve hybrids exhibited a high degree of genetic diversity (similarity coefficient of 36%). Durian hybrids were classified into six categories based on a 47% similarity coefficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]