Phenotypic diversity of Haitian Benzolive (Moringa oleifera Lam.)

Abstract

Moringa (MO) is a plant with great nutritional value distributed in almost all subtropical and tropical countries including Haiti.  MO is relatively present in all departments of Haiti. But till now, there are no data available for the phenotypical diversities of Haitian MO. The current survey is aimed at evaluating the morphological diversity of Haitian MO. From June to September of the 2018 year, 90 samples of MO were collected in the 10 departments of Haiti. Characters registered per plant were submitted to statistical analysis using IBM SPSS, version 22.0. Results revealed that Haitian MO grain yield (GY) were ranging from 0.20 to 3.26 t/ha. MO from Grand’Anse and South are significantly more yielded than the other districts (p< 0.05).  MO grain yield was positively related to all registered characters. The two maximal GY correlations were observed mainly with the number of branches plant (? =0.74; p<0.001) and the number of pods per branch (? =0.60; p<0.001).  Haitian MO was classified into two separate clusters. MO of South, Southeast and Grand’Anse departments formed one cluster and the other departments constituted the largest one.  The greatest genetic diversity was detected in MO from Southeast and West departments. Crossing materials from Southeast and West department is well recommended for creating possibly new accessions. The additional investigation regarding molecular classification is deeply required for better understanding of the genetic diversity of Haitian MO.