Selection and genetic parameters of coriander progenies with heat tolerance

Coriander is a vegetable crop very appreciated as a condiment. The cultivar Verdão is one of the most cultivated in the state of Pernambuco (Brazil), however it is susceptible to premature bolting. Cultivars with longer vegetative growth and tolerant to early bolting have been sought by producers. Nevertheless, a few studies are conducted in Brazil on coriander cultivars with such characteristics. An alternative would be the identification of promising populations to obtain lineages adapted to heat within the cultivar Verdão, since this cultivar has a short cycle and genetic variability for this characteristic. The aim of this study was to estimate the genetic parameters and predict the genetic value of half-sib coriander progenies by the methodology of mixed linear models (REML/BLUP procedure) regarding the characters number of days to the beginning of bolting, plant height, stem diameter and fresh weight. Besides estimating the minimum number of suitable progenies to represent a coriander population derived from the cultivar Verdão. Eighty-five half-sib progenies of the second cycle of recurrent selection were conducted in two experiments. The estimation of high heritability and the CV/ CV ratio above the unit for all traits were obtained, except for plant height. The estimation of genetic parameters showed that coriander progenies exhibit genetic variability for the characters number of days to the beginning of bolting, stem diameter and fresh weight. The minimum number of suitable progenies to estimate genetic parameters and to represent the coriander population is 68 progenies. Thirteen half-sib progenies may be selected to carry on the coriander breeding program regarding heat tolerance.