Genotypic diversity in vegetable amaranth for antioxidant, nutrient and agronomic traits

In this investigation, magnitude of genetic divergence was studied in 25 vegetable amaranth using D-2 statistics. The genotypes were grouped into 5 clusters with the highest number of genotypes (10) in cluster V. High inter-cluster distance indicated that genotypes of cluster III were far diverged from the genotypes in cluster I, II and IV, respectively. The PCA indicated prominent contribution of protein, foliage yield, leaf area and Zn content towards total divergence. Cluster I and Cluster III could be considered for excellent antioxidant and nutrients and high foliage yield. Cluster II for nutrients, cluster IV for antioxidant and nutrients and cluster V for antioxidant, nutrients, and foliage yield. Based on inter-cluster distance, intra-cluster and scatter diagram, the genotypes AA28, AA15, AA19, AA26, AA9 and AA17 would be potential genotypes for generating transgressive segregants.