Characterization of wheat varieties (Triticum spp.) through seed morphology

An experiment was carried out at the Department of Seed Science and Technology, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh, to characterize 28 wheat varieties of different species [17 varieties (MP 4010, HI 1500, HI 1531, HI 1544, GW 1, GW 503, DL 788-2, HD 2932, GW 11, GW 173, GW 190, GW 273, LOK 1, GW 322, MP 3288, GW 366 and GW 496) of Triticum aestivum, 9 varieties (HI 8381, HI 8498, HI 8627, HI 8713, A 28, A 206, GDW 1255, GW 1139 and RAJ 1555) of Triticum durum and 2 varieties (DDK 1025, DDK 1029) of Triticum dicoccum)] released for general cultivation in Gujarat at state level as well as at the National level in Central India based on the seed morphological characters. Based on the seed colour, the varieties were grouped into amber (25), white (1) and red (2). On the basis of seed shape, wheat varieties were separated in to round (2) ovate (7), oblong (12) and elliptical (7). On the basis of seed size, varieties were grouped into medium seed size (5), bold seed size (15) and very bold seed size (8). On the basis of seed hardness, varieties were grouped into soft (1), semi-hard (7) and hard (20). Based on the seed germ width, varieties were grouped into medium (15), wide (9) and narrow (4) seed germ width types. The varieties were grouped based on the seed crease into three groups, as medium (11),shallow (12) and deep (5) grain crease types. Based on the brush hair length, wheat varieties were grouped as short (17), medium (7) and long (4) brush hair length types.