Objective

To characterize the morphoagronomic variability of 12 non-toxic Jatropha curcas L. accessions, in the experimental field of the College of Postgraduate Studies-Veracruz Campus, in the central region of Veracruz state, Mexico.

Materials and Methods

Six accessions propagated by seeds and six by stakes, established eight years earlier, were taken. The indicators height, number of branches, stem diameter, quantity and length of racemes, quantity and length of inflorescences, quantity of fruits and seeds and their sizes, were measured. The data were processed through principal component analysis, cluster and correlation analysis. Of the variability, 91,65 % was explained through five components.

Results

The quantity, length and width of the fruits, quantity of seeds and their sizes; as well as height, number of branches and racemes and diameter, were the most variable indicators with which 54,17 % of the variability was explained in the first two components. Three groups were formed. Group II was the one with the best performance in 10 of the 15 evaluated indicators. The accessions I-32 and I-65 showed the best performance. The existence of strong and positive correlations between quantity of fruit and seed quantity and length; and moderate between minimum temperature and height, was observed.

Conclusions

High variability was observed with regards to the studied traits; while the degree of affectation by diseases was from moderate to low. The accessions I-32 and I-65 showed the best performance in 10 of the evaluated indicators.

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