Characterising the diversity of grain nutritional and physico-chemical quality in Indian rice landraces by multivariate genetic analyses

Abstract

We evaluated a set of 190 genotypes for five grain-nutrient, five grain physico-chemical quality and four derived traits. Wide variability was observed for all the traits studied, with CV ranging from 9.33 to 51.89%. No correlation was observed between grain nutritional and physico-chemical quality traits. Iron (Fe) and Zinc (Zn) content in brown rice showed significant positive correlation. Zn content in brown and polished rice showed significant association however, the Fe content in brown and polished rice did not show significant association. Two principal components each in grain nutritional and physico-chemical traits explained 73.15 % and 62.82 % of the total variation, respectively. Cluster analysis grouped the accessions into two and three clusters on the basis of grain physico-chemical traits and nutritional traits, respectively. The study has led to the identification of promising donors for biofortification and grain quality improvement in rice.