Sex phenology of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) landraces and its relation to yield potential and fruit quality.

Small fruited bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) has fascinated the consumers for its medicinal value and deliciousness. Sex expression especially lower number of pistillate flowers than staminate flowers is the major limitation for yield improvements of this lucrative vegetable. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the physio-morphological characters, phonological behavior, fruit yield and quality of small fruited bitter gourd. The results revealed that small and round fruit bearing landrace produced shorter vine and more primary branches than oblong fruit bearing landrace. The oblong type produced larger leaf area and total dry matter that contributed main role of vine length and fruit yield. Small and round fruit bearing landrace produced greater number of pistillate flowers. On the other hand, all landraces produced the larger number of staminate flowers than pistillate flowers. The staminate flowers induced earlier in basal node whereas pistillate flowers initiated later in the proximal node. The fruit quality specifically fruit flesh weight of rind and weight of fruit flesh of different landraces were greatly varied. The total soluble solid (TSS) varied from 4.56 to 5.53 %, and ascorbic acid between 78.70 and 126.70 mg 100g -1 , β-carotene and protein content varied from 95.50 to 106.50 µg 100 -1 g and 1.58 to 2.24 mg 100g 1 , respectively. Results concluded that frequency of primary branches and individual fruit weight greatly play dominant role