Abstract:In order to selective breeding of Plukenetia volubilis L., the phenotype variations of its capsules and seeds were studied. The results showed that the capsules of P. volubilis had 3 types with 4, 5 or 6 pods, accounting for 49.71%, 37.69% and 12.60%, respectively, and the capsules with 4 or 5 pods were dominate. The variation coefficients of seed traits were lower than that of capsules, suggested that the stability of seed traits was higher than that of capsules. The traits of 4-pod capsule were the most stable among three pod types, there were 54.19%~95.63% variation ratio of traits came from different individuals. There were 79.81%~95.76% and 67.66%~93.0% variation ratio of capsule and seed traits came from pod type, respectively, which indicate the pod number had high effect on variations of traits. The most of traits of capsule and seed had significant differences among different pod types, the number of pod was main reason for trait difference. The seed germination rate was above 91% in the order of 6-pod > 5-pod > 4-pod. There were significant positive correlation between seed germination rate and weight per fruit, fruit morphology traits, such as fruit diameter, fruit thickness and thickness of pod, and weight per fruit, weight per seed and seed morphology, such as length, width and thickness. In conclusion, Plukenetia volubilis with 4-pod fruit had the highest yield, mean fruit and seed weight were higher than other types.
