Genetic parameters, correlation and repeatability of agronomic characters of yellow passion fruit genotypes in three harvest cycles.

The genetic improvement of sour passion fruit has the main objective of obtaining genotypes with high fruit yield and quality. The determination of the ideal early selection is extremely relevant to reduce costs and time in the selection of promising genotypes for use in genetic improvement programs. In this context, this work aimed to determine the ideal selection phase through estimates of genetic parameters, phenotypic, genotypic correlations and analysis of repeatability. A total of 14 yellow passion fruit hybrids in Lençóis (Bahia State, Brazil) were evaluated in a randomized block design with five replications and nine agronomic traits from three harvests with five fruits evaluated per repetition. Genetic parameters, repeatability coefficient and phenotypic and genotypic correlations were estimated for each evaluation cycle. For most parameters, the traits changed according to the evaluation cycle. Most of the genetic parameters showed favorable genetic conditions for the selection in the first harvest. The correlations between the traits fruit weight, peel and seedless pulp weight, fruit length and diameter were more stable in the different harvests. Through the repeatability analysis based on the principal components of covariance and correlation, it was possible to estimate a sample of 13 fruits per hybrid for prediction with accuracy of 90% for the physical traits of sour passion fruit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]