Deciphering morpho-physiochemical diversity, mineral profiling, and population structure in brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) germplasm.

Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) is a key solanaceous vegetable in Asian and African countries, rich in minerals and vitamins in tropical diets. This study evaluated the variability and genetic diversity of 94 genotypes grown in an Augmented Randomized Complete Block Design during kharif-rabi (monsoon-winter) 2023-24. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences among genotypes for all traits, except total soluble solids, indicating substantial genetic variability, which was further supported by variability parameters showing considerable variation among the genotypes for all studied traits. No negative correlations were observed between yield or fruit weight and the minerals traits. First five principal components explained 62.83% of the cumulative variation. The clustering based on the Manhattan dissimilarity coefficient for quantitative traits divided 94 genotypes into eight clusters. Genetic diversity assessment employed simple sequence repeats (SSR)/microsatellites markers, revealing 63 distinct alleles across 15 primers with variable band sizes and polymorphic information content (PIC) varied from 0.2854 (EM 120) to 0.6748 (CSM31). The dendrogram constructed from SSR markers categorized the genotypes into three main clusters (A, B, and C), with further sub-clustering revealing genetic similarities among genotypes. The population structure analysis using the STRUCTURE software classified genotypes into four groups (G1-G4) based on SSR markers. Sub-population G4 exhibited the highest genetic diversity. Fruit yield per plant, average fruit weight, days to 50% flowering, iron content, and potassium content emerged as significant contributors to diversity. The findings highlight the potential for hybridization to improve yield and the use of diverse genotypes as parents in bi-parental mating and mapping studies to enhance nutrient content through targeted breeding.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-025-04487-z.