Physalis L. is one of the most important genera of the Solanaceae family, containing 120 species identified botanically. Physalis species have a great genetic, variety due to the high number of botanically identified species, which guarantees peculiar characteristics of economic interest. Despite the knowledge of these characteristics, little has been done for the genetic improvement of this small fruit. To start the improvement, it is necessary to carry out the analysis of genetic diversity in germplasm banks. Thus, the objective was to explore morphoagronomic parameters of seven species and twenty-nine interspecific Physalis hybrids, aiming to contribute to genetic improvement programs. Seven species were used: Physalis angulata, Physalis ixocarpa, Physalis pruinosa, Physalis peruviana, Physalis pubescens, Physalis mínima and Physalis daturaefolia and 29 hybrids interspecific. For the morphoagronomic characterization, a list of 42 descriptors was used, with 22 quantitative and 20 qualitative variables. Using Ward's hierarchical grouping based on Mahalanobis distance, we observed the formation of five groups with close relatives in relation to the qualitative data. Mojena's method (1977) indicated the formation of five distinct groups. Principal component analysis (PCA) explained 63.01% of the total variation between the seven species and the 29 Physalis hybrids through the first two principal components (PC1 and PC2). Based on the characters explored, five distinct quantitative and qualitative groups were differentiated. Physalis hybrids were superior for most quantitative variables.
Angela Murray (Wed,) studied this question.