Orange-fleshed cucumber ( Cucumis sativus var. sativus L.) germplasm from North-East India: agro-morphological, biochemical and evolutionary studies

The common cucumber is low in carotenoid content with white flesh colour while orange fleshed cucumber germplasm from north-east region of India has high carotenoid content and thus, appears to be promising for utilization in breeding programme. The current study was conducted on morphological, biochemical and organoleptic assessment of five orange fleshed cucumber germplasm and comparison was drawn with the check variety ‘Pusa Uday’. Since this landrace is not common, botanical description was provided based on morphological observations. A distinct seed morphology with pointed tip of about 0.1 mm at distal end of the seed was noticed in all the carotenoid rich accessions. The carotenoid content of immature and mature fruits ranged from 4.08 to 8.21 and 22.99 to 54.84 (µg/g), respectively as compared to 2.54 µg/g in check variety Pusa Uday. The carotenoid rich germplasm has high potential for enriching food and alleviating vitamin A deficiency in the country. Morphological characters, anatomical evidences, trends of distribution and uses suggest the prevalence of diversity of orange fleshed cucumbers in north-east region of India. The germplasm having common character viz., orange flesh colour in adjoining regions of Myanmar and southern China are indicative of close linkages of continuous variation in this region.