DETERMINATION OF SPECIFIC MORINGA DIVERSITY IN THE PALU VALLEY BASED ON MORPHOLOGICAL AND GENETIC ANALYSIS

Abstract

Moringa oleifera L. is a valuable commodity with various health benefits, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. In developing and improving the potential of Moringa oleifera (MO) in the Palu Valley (Indonesia) to meet the need for quality seeds, a study of the diversity of morphology, seed viability, and genetics is needed. This study aims to identify MO accession based on morphological characteristics, viability, and genetic testing. Morphological analysis was carried out on 24 agronomic characters; a seed viability test was carried out using a Complete Randomized Design in selected accessions. The parallel genetic analysis was performed through DNA extraction using the PCR method using 10 ISSR primers. The data were analyzed using cluster analysis using the SYSTAT program in the form of a dendrogram. The study results obtained 24 accessions of MO with different morphological characters. Germination power ranged from 83.33 to 88.33 %, the speed of shoot emergence was 3.42 to 6.1 days, and the Euclidian distance was 0.290. There were five different MO groups of genotypes, each represented by accession Kulawi2, Kulawi10, Palolo24, Balaroa5, and Tondo19. It is suggested that five selected MO accession groups can be used as mother trees for seed supply.