Correlações fenotípicas em características fisicoquímicas do maracujazeiro-azedo Phenotypic correlations in physicochemical characteristics of Passion fruits

The objective of this study was to evaluate the degree of association between characters of Passiflora edulis thus supporting the breeding programs that use indirect selection. Was evaluated in 1120 harvested in test 26 full-sib families of passion fruit, in which measured the following characteristics: number of fruits por plant (NF), estimated production (EP), fruit weight (FW) ; average mass of the shell (MC), average mass of pulp (MP), the fruit length (FL), average fruit diameter (FD), rind thickness (EC), the average content of soluble solids (TSS) , average total acidity (TTA), and flesh color (CP). The correlation between number of fruits por plant with an estimated production por plant has greater magnitude (rf = 0.92 **) that the correlation of fruit mass with an estimated production (rf = 0.54 **), indicating a greater contribution of the number of fruits por plant to obtain more productive families. The correlation of greater magnitude was the length of the fruit with fruit mass, indicating that the selection of plants with heavy fruit can be made directly in the field, from the length of the fruit.