Morphological characterization of Moringa oleifera accessions from the South-Southeast of Mexico

Abstract

Moringa oleifera is a plant with great capacity to adapt to different edaphoclimatic conditions. Environmental factors influence the morphology and phenology of this species. The objective was to characterize the morphology of 20 accessions of Moringa oleifera from the South-Southeast of Mexico. The seeds were collected from commercial cultivations in the states of Veracruz, Oaxaca, Guerrero, Chiapas and Yucatan. The seeds were sown in containers and transplanted two months after germination in the field with a completely randomized block design (CRBD). Every seven days the quantitative variables were recorded, and 301 days after transplantation, the morphological descriptors were evaluated. It was observed that accession C2 presented the highest growth (273 cm). Accession Y2 had a diameter of 43.22 mm and accession Y3 had 54 leaves. A high variation was found in leaf size, flower and stem color and the onset of flowering. Principal component analysis identified three groups. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the first five components explain 99.21% of the total variation and that components 1 (52.87%) and 2 (37.54%) contribute 90.41%. From the cluster analysis, three groups with 0.76 similarity resulted, based on Euclidean similarity. The morphological differentiation of the various accessions of moringa allowed corroborating varietal differentiation and the need to implement a genetic program of conservation, selection and breeding of moringa in the South-Southeast of Mexico.