European Journal of Biotechnology and Bioscience

Authors
TR Barathkumar

Abstract
Thuthuvalai (Solanum trilobatum L.) is an important medicinal plant in Indian system of medicines. The fruits are having several alkaloids. These alkaloids have been identified and used in large scale by pharmaceutical industries for formulating new drugs against many diseases and illness of human beings. In order to exploit this medicinal herb for commercial cultivation, the present investigation was carried out to study the correlation and path analysis for flowering, fruit yield and alkaloid content of Thuthuvalai (Solanum trilobatum L.). Thirty ecotypes were collected from all the agro climatic regions of Tamil Nadu and studied for correlation and path analysis for flowering, fruit yield, and alkaloid content. The number of fruits had positive genotypic and phenotypic association with dry fruit yield and alkaloid content in the fruits. The path analysis revealed that number of fruits had higher positive direct effect on fresh fruit yield. The ecotype ST₇ (Vangal) performed well for flowering, fruit yield and alkaloid content in Thuthuvalai.