*3.4. Descriptive Statistic of the Traits*

For morpho-physiological traits evaluated in this study, their descriptive statistics including means and standard error (std.Error), standard deviations (std.Dev), minimum (Min), maximum (Max), skewness and kurtosis are summarized in Table 5. All the phenotypic values are shown a wide range of variability. Plant height (PH) ranged from 87.82 to 139.57. The NDVI value ranged from 0.33 to 0.78, SPAD ranged from 25.37 to 66.97, single leaf area (SLA) ranged from 86.12 to 242.85 cm2, DFF ranged from 70.21 to 80.5 days, FD ranged from 0.77 to 9.47 cm, FL ranged from 3.71 to 24.93 cm, FW ranged from 10.00 to 650.40 g, TF ranged from 10.21 to 49.21, and YPP ranged from 0.24 to 10.57 kg.

**Figure 1.** Box plots showing the pattern of the measured traits of germplasm. DFF = Days to first flowering (day), FD = Fruit diameter (cm), FL = Fruit length (cm), FW = Fruit weight (g), YPP =Yield plant−<sup>1</sup> (kg), NDVI = Normalized difference vegetation index, PH = Plant height (cm), SLA = Single leaf area (cm2), SPAD = Soil plant analyses development, TF = Total number of fruits.

**Figure 2.** Frequency distribution of the germplasm based on quantitative traits: (**A**) Plant height, (**B**) NDVI, (**C**) SPAD value, (**D**) SLA, (**E**) DFF, (**F**) fruits diameter, (**G**) fruit length, (**H**) FW, (**I**) TF and (**J**) YPP of eggplant.


**Table 5.** Descriptive statistics of measured traits.

ns, non-significant; \*, \*\* indicate the significance at 5% and 1% level of probability.

Skewness is a measure of the asymmetry and kurtosis is a measure of 'peakedness' of a distribution. The skewness and kurtosis were non-significant for all the traits except PH, TF and YPP indicating all the traits fitted with a normal distribution (Figure 2). The traits SLA, DFF, FD, TF and YPP were significant, and the distribution is positively skewed, which means that more accessions are below the mean than expected in a normal distribution. Only the trait SPAD was non-significant, and the distribution is negatively skewed, which means that more accessions above the mean than expected in a normal distribution (Figure 2). The traits PH, TF and YPP were significant and positive for kurtosis which means heavily leptokurtic distributions (Figure 2).

The results pertaining to genetic parameters viz., phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV), genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV), broad-sense heritability (h2 BS), and genetic advance as percent of the mean (GAM) for all the 10 traits are summarized in Table 6. TF had the highest PCV (54.76%) and GCV (53.64%), followed by FD, FL, FW, and YPP. High PCV and high GCV suggesting that these traits were under the influence of genetic control. The traits PH, NDVI, and SPAD were noted for moderate magnitudes of both PCV and GCV respectively. The traits DFF recorded for low magnitudes of both PCV and GCV, respectively.

**Table 6.** Estimation of statistical and genetic parameters of yield and its contributing traits of different eggplant germplasm.


GV = Genotypic variance, PV = Phenotypic variance, GCV = Genotypic coefficients of variation, PCV = Phenotypic coefficients of variation, hBS = broad-sense heritability, GA = Genetic advance at 5% selection intensity, GAM = Genetic advance as the percentage of the mean at 5% selection intensity, DFF = Days to first flowering (day), FD = Fruit diameter (cm), FL = Fruit length (cm), FW = Fruit weight (g), YPP =Yield Plant−<sup>1</sup> (kg), NDVI = Normalized difference vegetation index, PH = Plant height (cm), SLA = Single leaf area (cm2), SPAD = Soil plant analyses development, TF = Total number of fruits.

## *3.5. Variability in Fruit Traits*

All the traits studied related to the fruit of eggplant showed distinct variation among the germplasm except fruit cross-section and fruit position (Table 6). The maximum variation was found in 'fruit Color at ripening stage'. Six categories of fruit Color at ripening such as milky white (1.54%), lilac grey (5.38%), Purple (24.62%), green with mottled at the distal end (39.23%), and Green with yellowish stripe (28.46%) and purple with light green at the distal end (2.31%) were observed. The next higher variation was found in 'fruit flesh density'. Very loose (spongy), loose (crumbly), average density, dense, and very dense type of fruit flesh density was found where the majority of the germplasm exhibited average density type. On the other hand, fruit calyx prickles were found as very few (1.6%), few (13.9%), intermediate (36.5%), many (23.0%), and very many (25.0%). Fruit Color distribution was exhibited as uniform (50.8%), mottled (13.1%), netted (16.8%), and striped (27.9%). No fruits were found curved in 80.56% of the germplasm. Only 8.33 % germplasm showed curved and 11.11% showed slightly curved. Fruit apexes were exhibited as two categories as rounded (40.28%) and depressed (59.72%).
