Principal component analysis of a canning determinate tomato collection in the IPGR, Sadovo – Bulgaria

Abstract

The success of a tomato breeding programme largely depends on the study of initial material and symptoms studied as well as manifestations of dependence between them. The study was conducted during the period 2008-2011 in the IPGR, Bulgaria. The objects of the study were 37 canning tomato accessions with an oval shape of the fruit. The collection included 11 local and 26 accessions of foreign origin. Using factor analysis by applying the PCA methodology, a relationship was established between 15 morphological and biochemical parameters of the accessions studied and their effects on indicators of fruit weight and dry matter content. The investigated parameters were grouped into four general factors affecting the mass change by 73.4%. Applied to dry matter content, the same method identifies four factors with a total impact of 71.7% on this trait.