This study aimed to determine the genetic behavior of three parental cultivars and their six F1 hybrids obtained through full-diallel crosses in cucumber. Variance components, broad-sense heritability, and genotypic, phenotypic, and environmental correlation coefficients underwent estimations for yield-related traits. The results revealed genotypic and phenotypic variances exceeded environmental variance for the studied traits. Broad-sense heritability estimates were high for most traits, indicating a significant genetic influence in trait expression. In the correlation analysis, total yield revealed significant positive genotypic association with early yield per plant (r = 0.642) and branches per plant (r = 0.432). In contrast, the total yield enunciated a notable negative correlation with fruit diameter (r = –0.393) and crust thickness (r = –0.404). Phenotypic correlation mirrored genotypic trends, especially between the total yield and early yield per plant (r = 0.642). In environmental correlation, the number of branches displayed a remarkable positive relationship with dry weight (r = 0.459) and harvest date (r = 0.422). Dry weight also showed a considerable positive correlation with crust thickness (r = 0.575). Additionally, the fruit diameter expressed a positive correlation with total yield (r = 0.551), and peel thickness had a highly significant positive correlation with early yield (r = 0.795).
Cucumber (C. sativus L.), cultivars, diallel crosses, variance components, heritability, genotypic and phenotypic correlations, yield-related traits
The study showed genotypic and phenotypic variances exceeded environmental variance for the yield-related traits in cucumber cultivars and their diallel F1 hybrids. According to the correlation analysis, a significant positive genotypic association appeared between total yield and early yield per plant.