Banana (Musa acuminata) is a tropical fruit plant vigorously growing in Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia. Despite its prevalence in different Musa acuminata cultivars, the LCYB gene expression and morphological and physiological traits remain unexplored. Therefore, the presented study sought to examine the manifestation of the LCYB gene and analyze various morphophysiological features. The promising research focused on probing the five cultivars of banana, specifically M. acuminata var. breviformis, M. acuminata var. tomentosa, M. acuminata var. malaccensis (Ridl.), M. acuminata var. microcarpa (Becc.), and M. acuminata var. rutilifers. The morphological observations revealed these cultivars have no prominent distinctions in stem size, fruit characteristics, banana blossom, and leaf traits. Remarkably, cultivar Rutilifers showed the highest carotenoid and total chlorophyll content levels. Inversely, the banana cultivars Breviformis and Microcarpa exhibited comparatively lower contents of physiological parameters than the other cultivars. Likewise, by analyzing the LCYB gene expression, it was evident that the cultivar Tomentosa displayed the superior level, followed by the cultivar Malaccensis. Conversely, the cultivar Microcarpa exhibited the lowest LCYB gene expression. To summarize the results, the applicable study enunciated a significant relationship between the LCYB gene expression and the chlorophyll and carotenoid contents across the various banana cultivars.

Keywords: Banana (Musa acuminata) cultivars, chlorophyll and carotenoid content, LCYB gene expression, Musa acuminata, Tomentosa

Key findings: LCYB gene expression and morphophysiological traits significantly differed among Musa acuminata Indonesian local cultivars.