Table 2.
Descriptors used for phenotyping.
| Descriptors | Units/Scale/Description |
|---|---|
| CONVENTIONAL MORPHOLOGICAL DESCRIPTORS | |
| Plant growth habit | 3 = Upright; 7 = Prostrate |
| Plant height | cm |
| Stem diameter | mm |
| Shoot tip anthocyanin intensity | 0 = Absent; 9 = Very strong |
| Leaf blade lobing | 1 = Very weak (none); 9 = Very Strong |
| Leaf prickles (upper surface) | 0 = None; 0 = Very many (>20) |
| Leaf surface shape | 1 = Flat; 9 = Very convex or bullate |
| Leaf blade tip angle | 1 ≤ 15°; 9 ≥ 160° |
| Leaf pedicel length | cm |
| Leaf blade length | cm |
| Leaf blade width | cm |
| Number of flowers per inflorescence | − |
| Corolla color | 1 = Greenish white; 9 = Bluish violet |
| Corolla diameter | mm |
| Number of flower prickles (calyx) | 0 = None; 9 = Very many (>20) |
| Number of sepals | − |
| Number of petals | − |
| Number of stamens | − |
| Fruit pedicel length | mm |
| Fruit pedicel diameter | mm |
| Fruit length/Breadth ratio | 1 = Broader than long; 9 = Several times as long as broad |
| Fruit cross section | 1 = Circular, no grooves; 9 = Very irregular |
| Fruit apex shape | 3 = Protruded; 7 = Depressed |
| Fruit weight | g |
| Fruit flesh density | 1 = Very loose; 9 = Very dense |
| Fruit calyx length (relative) | 1 = Very short (< 10%); 9 = Very long (>75%) |
| Fruit calyx prickles | 0 = None; 9 = Very many (>30) |
| TOMATO ANALYZER PHENOMICS FRUIT MORPHOMETRIC DESCRIPTORS | |
| Perimeter | cm |
| Area (A) | cm2 |
| Width mid-height | The width measured at 1/2 of the fruit's height (cm). |
| Maximum width | The maximum horizontal distance of the fruit (cm). |
| Height mid-width | The height measured at 1/2 of the fruit's width (cm). |
| Maximum height | The maximum vertical distance of the fruit (cm). |
| Curved height | The height measured along a curved line through the fruit (cm). |
| Fruit shape index external I | The ratio of maximum height to maximum width. |
| Fruit shape index external II | The ratio of height mid-width to width mid-height. |
| Curved fruit shape index | The ratio of curved height to the width of the fruit at mid-curved-height. |
| Proximal fruit blockiness | The ratio of the width at the upper blockiness position to width mid-height. |
| Distal fruit blockiness | The ratio of the width at the lower blockiness position to width mid-height. |
| Fruit shape triangle | The ratio of the width at the upper blockiness position to the width at the lower blockiness position. |
| Ellipsoid | The ratio of the error resulting from a best-fit ellipse to the area of the fruit. Smaller values indicate that the fruit is more ellipsoid. |
| Circular | The ratio of the error resulting from a best-fit circle to the area of the fruit. Smaller values indicate that the fruit is more circular. |
| Rectangular | The ratio of the area of the rectangle bounding the fruit to the area of the rectangle bounded by the fruit. |
| Shoulder height | The ratio of the average height of the shoulder points above the proximal end point to maximum height. |
| Obovoid | Calculated according to the formula provided in the Tomato Analyzer manual (Rodríguez et al., 2010). The higher the value, the greater is the area of the fruit below mid height. |
| Ovoid | Calculated according to the formula provided in the Tomato Analyzer manual (Rodríguez et al., 2010). The higher the value, the greater is the area of the fruit above mid height. |
| Fruit shape index internal | The ratio of the internal ellipse's height to its width. |
The list displays conventional morphological descriptors based on EGGNET (van der Weerden and Barendse, 2007) and IBPGR (1990) descriptors list and phenomics fruit morphometric descriptors based on Tomato Analyzer software (Rodríguez et al., 2010) used for the characterization of accessions of cultivated eggplant (S. melongena; n = 6); wild relatives (n = 21) and interspecific hybrids between cultivated eggplant and wild relatives (n = 45).