~ 592 ~ International Journal of Chemical Studies 2019; SP6: 592-595 P-ISSN: 2349–8528 E-ISSN: 2321–4902 IJCS 2019; SP6: 592-595 Pramila Department of Vegetable Science, GBPUA&T, Pantnagar, U.S Nagar, Uttarakhand, India ML Kushwaha Department of Vegetable Science, GBPUA&T, Pantnagar, U.S Nagar- Uttarakhand, India Udit Kumar Department of Vegetable Science, GBPUA&T, Pantnagar, U.S Nagar, Uttarakhand, India LM Yadav Department of Vegetable Science, GBPUA&T, Pantnagar, U.S Nagar, Uttarakhand, India Corresponding Author: Pramila Department of Vegetable Science, GBPUA&T, Pantnagar, U.S Nagar, Uttarakhand, India (Special Issue -6) 3 rd National Conference On PROMOTING & REINVIGORATING AGRI-HORTI, TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS [PRAGATI-2019] (14-15 December, 2019) Genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance studies in brinjal ( Solanum melongena L.) Pramila, ML Kushwaha, Udit Kumar and LM Yadav Abstract Thirteen parents along with thirty hybrids were evaluated during two successive years 2013-14 and 2014- 2015 and pooled analysis was also carried out at VRC, GBPUAT Pantnagar, for twelve yield attributing characters. High phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) was recorded than their correspondent genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV). This was because of the reason that variability at phenotypic level includes both genotypic and environment variability. In pooled data high PCV was observed for the character number of unmarketable fruits per plant (44.07%), whereas high GCV was recorded for number of marketable fruits per plant (40.37%). High heritability coupled with high genetic advance as percent of mean was recorded for total number of fruits per plant (67.99%) indicating importance of additive gene action controlling this character. Keywords: brinjal, variability, GCV, PCV, heritability, genetic advance Introduction Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.), is one of the most important vegetable crop. It is popular among people of all social strata and hence, it is rightly called as vegetable of masses (Patel and Sarnaik, 2003) [3] . The fruits of eggplant are widely consumed in various culinary preparations and are rich source of protective nutrients (Hedges and Lister, 2007) [7] . Eggplant is well known for its medicinal properties and has also been recommended as an excellent remedy for liver complaints and diabetic patients (Tiwari et al., 2009) [25] . The eggplant phytochemical that have received most research attention is the phenolics, a powerful antioxidants (Vinson et al., 1998) [26] . Polyphenols have shown to be beneficial for human health due to its many biological activities like free-radical scavenging, regulation of enzymatic activity and anti-cancer activities and regulator of cell signalling pathways (Sato et al., 2011) [21] . Consequently, due to the multiple health benefits of eggplant, which include anti-oxidant, anti-diabetic, hypotensive, cardio protective and hepatoprotective effects, the demand for eggplant has been on a rapid and steady rise in the recent years (Ojiewo et al., 2007) [17] . Brinjal is a self-pollinated crop but cross pollination also occurs to a considerable extent. This is because, it has pronounced heterostyly which favours cross pollination. Sixty to seventy percent fruit setting happens through pollination by insect, while 30-40% by selfing. Bumble bees (Bombus sp.) and honey bees (Apis sp.) are the vector which do most of the pollination. Brinjal is a day- neutral plant. Fruit setting is affected neither by natural light nor by relative humidity but mainly by the average maximum temperature (21-27 0 C) and precipitation during first five days after flower opening. The selection of potential parents should be based on genetic distance which needs estimation of the magnitude of variability. Selection based on phenotypic performance is not single and only method for assessing genetic