Morphological characterization of coriander genotypes

Few coriander cultivars (Coriandrum sativum L.) are available to producers and, in some regions, arc grown genotypes of unknown origin, kept by the growers themselves. To conserve such traditional crops it is necessary to collect, save, and characterize them. Thus. this study was to determine morphological characters to differentiate coriander genotypes aiming the registration of cultivars. Two trials were carried out, and the experimental design used in both was in completely randomized blocks with five replications. American, Asteca, Palmeira, Portugues, Santo, Superia, Tabocas, Tapacura, and Verdao cultivars, and the line HTV-9299 were characterized for seedling, leaflets, leaves, fruits, and flowers. The data were subjected to a univariate ANOVA. The fruits of cv. Palmeira exhibited greater size and mass. As regards the presence of anthocyanins in seedlings and plants, cv. Americano showed the lowest intensity or slight pigmentation while cv. Tabocas had the highest pigmentation. The cultivars American, Palmeira, Asteca, Verdao and Tabocas and the line HTV-9299 displayed higher number of basal leaves, however. the genotypes that produced larger amount of mass per plant were Tabocas, Palmeira, Verdao HTV-9299, and Tapacura. The green tone of leaflets showed differences among cultivars. So, cv. Americanos leaflets exhibited a light green, slightly yellowish color. HTV-9299 green, and Tabocas dark green. The morphological traits with higher discriminatory power for the group of the ten evaluated cultivars were: size and weight of fruits; presence or absence of anthocyanin in seedlings and plants; number of basal leaves; length of the fifth leaf; size and color of leaflets; number of days to bolting initiation, and opening of the first flower, and plant fresh mass.