Bitter gourd, being an important vegetable crop of
the gourd family, is a highly cross-pollinated crop and its
monoecious sex though governed by genetics, is highly
influenced by soil and environmental factors. Therefore, the
precise knowledge of combining ability and gene action
responsible for yield and yield components is a pre-requisite
for launching a successful crop improvement programme.
Hybrids will be very easy to commercialise in bitter gourd
due to its high seed content and easy seed extraction
technique. Accordingly, the present investigation is oriented
to gain further knowledge on the genetic aspect of yield
and its component in bitter gourd for commercial exploitation
of heterosis. The Line x Tester analysis have been proved
to be very successful biometrical tool to study the
improvement.

The experiment was conducted at Vegetable
Research Farm, Department of Horticulture, Allahabad
Agricultural Institute-Deemed University during the year
2003-2005. Evaluation and selection of germplasm were done
during Kharif season of 2003. Among all the genotypes ten
best parents were selected for the study. Six lines [(MC-84
(L

1
), S-17 (L

2
), JMC-21 (L

3
), NDBT-15 (L

4
), VRBT-94

(L
5
) and Gy-1 (L

6
) ] and four testers [VRBT-6-9 (T

1
), JMC-

22 (T
2
),  VRBT-89 (T

3
) and MC-56 (T

4
)] were crossed to

Short communication

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 4 (2): 170-173, 2009

Heterosis in bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.)

Murlee Yadav, Rashmi Chaudhary and D. B. Singh
 Department of Horticulture

Allahabad Agricultural Institute - Deemed University
Allahabad – 211 007, India

E-mail : murli_y@yahoo.co.in

ABSTRACT

The present investigation was conducted to determine heterosis in 6 lines and 4 tester crosses of bitter gourd,
where the six lines used were MC-84 (L

1
), S-17 (L

2
), JMC-21 (L

3
), NDBT-15(L

4
), VRBT-94 (L

5
) and Gy-1 (L

6
) and the

four testers were VRBT-6-9 (T
1
), JMC-22 (T

2
), VRBT-89 (T

3
) and MC-56 (T

4
). Most of the crosses failed to manifest

significant heterosis for many of the horticultural traits but traits, like vine length and fruit length showed positive
significant heterosis, while, days to first appearance of female flower manifested negative significant heterosis in
several crosses. Two crosses, namely, MC-84 x VRBT-6-9 and MC-84 x JMC-22 were identified to have potential in
terms of yield, whereas two more crosses viz., S-17 x VRBT-6-9 and S-17 x JMC-22 were found superior in terms of
powdery mildew resistance.

Key words : Bitter gourd, heterosis

get 24 F
1
 hybrid combinations (Kempthorne, 1957) during

the kharif season of 2004. These 24 F
1
 hybrids were grown

and evaluated in the kharif season of 2005 in a Randomised
Block Design with three replications. Each plant was grown
at 1 x 1.5 m2 spacing. Observations were recorded on five
randomly selected competitive plants for vine length (cm),
number of primary branches vine-1, number of nodes vine-1,
internodal length (cm), days to first appearance of female
flower, days to appearance of male flower, first effective
node, fruit length (cm), fruit width (cm), fruit weight (g),
number of fruits vine-1, number of fruits plot-1, yield plant-1,
yield plot-1 and yield (q/ha). Powdery mildew infestation was
measured by following the scale given by Narasinghani and
Tiwari (1995). Heterosis was estimated for all the characters
over better parent (BP) and mid parent (MP).

The results are presented in Table 1 to 5. The
heterobeltiosis and mean heterosis of two best crosses
ranged from 41.93 (L

2
 x T

4
) to 35.25% (L

1
 x T

1
) and 9.86

(L
2
 x T

4
) to 5.03% (L

1
 x T

1
) for yield (q/ha), 39.91 (L

1
 x T

3
)

to 36.01% (L
1
 x T

1
) and 5.62 (L

1
 x T

1
) to 2.20% (L

5
 x T

1
)

for yield plot-1, 48.62 (L
1
 x T

3
) to 58.51% (L

1
 x T

1
) and

34.75 (L
1
 x T

4
) to 23.10% (L

1
 x T

1
) for yield vine-1, 56.22

(L
6
 x T

3
) to 63.95% (L

6
 x T

2
) and 18.73 (L

6
 x T

3
) to 23.00%

(L
6
 x T

4
) for number of fruits per plot, 56.22(L

6
 x T

3
) to



171

69.77% (L
6
 x T

2
) and 31.30 (L

5
 x T

4
) to 26.32% (L

1
 x T

4
),

for number of fruits per vine respectively.

Kushwaha and Ram (2002) reported two potential
crosses for heterosis breeding based on better parent heterosis
ranging from –24.04 to 50.25 and 44.50 to 77.98% over the
season for number of fruits plant-1 and for yield plant-1 in bottle
gourd. Singh and Kumar (2002) also reported similar results in
bitter gourd for number of fruits plant-1. In contrast to our
findings, Sirohi et al (1985) recorded 115% higher yield plant-1

in the best F
1
 hybrids over the commercial cultivar PSPL.

However, heterobeltiosis of two best crosses varied
from 15.12 (L

2
 x T

1
) to 20.76% (L3 x T

1
), 39.53 (L

1
 x T

1
)

to 31.62% (L
1
 x T

2
), 82.68 (L

6
 x T

2
) to 88.57% (L

2
 x T

4
)

and mean heterosis 37.57 (L
1
 x T

4
) to 31.79% (L

5 
x T

4
),

24.19 (L
3
 x T

3
) to 23.88% (L

6
 x T

4
), 2.02 (L

6
 x T

1
) to 7.42%

(L
1
 x T

1
) for fruit length, fruit width and fruit weight,

respectively.

Similar results were reported by Kushwaha and
Ram (2002) in bottle gourd, Sirohi et al (1978) in bitter gourd
for fruit length. Significant heterosis over better parent and
standard check was observed particularly for fruit weight,
fruit length and fruit diameter by Singh and Kumar (2002)
in bitter gourd.

Table 1. Estimates of heterobeltiosis and mean heterosis (%) for various traits in bitter gourd
Cross Vine lngth No. of primary branches/vine No. of nodes Internodal length

BP M P BP M P BP M P BP M P
L

1
 x T

1
0.62 13.15* 28.47 8.82 -12.62* -15.12* -7.33 -2.46

L
1
 x T

2
-6.15* 18.68* 25.40 -1.86 -12.30* -19.55* -3.35 -1.77

L
1
 x T

3
-4.06* 29.81* 22.13 -6.29 -10.24* -33.53* -9.33 -1.09

L
1
 x T

4
-4.92* 21.41* 13.79 -15.38 -6.52* -29.12* -16.98* -7.43

L
2
 x T

1
-0.95 9.86* 7.64 -6.06 -2.96 -3.19* 1.45 11.60

L
2
 x T

2
-2.86 21.43* 21.43 -1.92 1.64 -3.63* 8.30 11.69

L
2
 x T

3
-6.35* 25.43* 7.38 -10.94 12.20* -13.64* 6.78 11.42

L
2
 x T

4
-6.67* 17.84* -9.48 -30.46 13.77* -7.92* 0.00 6.78

L
3
 x T

1
-16.21* -6.40* 0.00 -4.00 6.00* 4.95* 4.11 18.98*

L
3
 x T

2
-0.50 2.31 293.65* 251.77* 9.02* 4.18* 12.28 20.66*

L
3
 x T

3
-4.50 7.48* -3.28 -15.11 22.44* -4.89* 16.44 16.44

L
3
 x T

4
-6.00* -2.08 -6.03 -19.85 23.91* 1.18 7.51 10.14

L
4
 x T

1
-13.83* -3.54 -11.11 -11.72 27.73* -1.51 -24.05* -12.19

L
4
 x T

2
-1.01 1.55 -3.17 -10.29 16.02* -4.50* -17.30* -10.00

L
4
 x T

3
-2.51 9.48 -7.38 -15.67 -16.93* -17.25* -10.49 -9.26

L
4
 x T

4
-19.76* 3.81 -11.21 -21.37 -5.08 -8.65* -15.87 14.97*

L
5
 x T

1
-3.17 -6.67* 3.52 2.80 31.40* -2.15 -12.33 0.19

L
5
 x T

2
-1.65 -1.35 3.17 -2.99 21.90* -2.96 -5.89 1.13

L
5
 x T

3
-0.54 6.11 1.64 -6.06 -14.41* -16.48* 3.39 3.39

L
5
 x T

4
-24.51* 0.00 -1.72 -11.63 -1.24 -7.72 -6.40 -4.12

L
6
 x T

1
-11.64* -8.31* 5.80 3.55 45.26* -0.65 -34.34* -21.92*

L
6
 x T

2
-1.59 -5.28 -1.54 -6.06 33.96* -1.73 -26.92* -18.02*

L
6
 x T

3
-9.13* 0.94 0.00 -6.15 -9.91* -18.03* -18.54* -15.08*

L
6
 x T

4
2.20 -3.80 1.72 -7.09 7.55* -6.56* -22.42* -20.62*

S. Em. (±) 0.10 0.93 0.15 0.13 0.12 0.10 0.52 0.45
* Significant at 5% level Table 2. Estimates of heterobeltiosis and mean heterosis (%) for

various traints in bitter gourd
Crosses Days to Days to First

appearance of appearance of effective
first male flower first female flower  node

BP M P BP M P BP M P
L

1
 x T

1
-3.85 1.74 -23.00* -17.65* -15.52 8.89

L
1
 x T

2
3.98 8.28* -19.50* -14.36* -10.34 8.33

L
1
 x T

3
-7.43* 2.75 -14.50* -14.50* -25.00* -11.27

L
1
 x T

4
0.00 9.50* -10.68* -9.36* -26.67* -10.81

L
2
 x T

1
-1.65 -0.56 -14.85* -8.51* -10.48 42.31*

L
2
 x T

2
6.74* 7.34 -12.87* -6.88* -7.26 41.98*

L
2
 x T

3
-4.95* 1.05 -10.85* -10.45* -4.84 13.46*

L
2
 x T

4
3.57 8.56* -9.22* -8.33* -2.42 13.08*

L
3
 x T

1
-2.15 -1.09 -14.29* -6.25* -21.15 -2.38

L
3
 x T

2
8.60* 11.60* -14.76* -7.25* -21.15 -8.89

L
3
 x T

3
-1.98 2.06 -14.25* -12.20* -41.67* -27.94*

L
3
 x T

4
2.55 5.24* -13.33* -12.50* -38.89* -22.54*

L
4
 x T

1
6.91* 8.65* -12.96* -5.24* -6.94 28.85*

L
4
 x T

2
8.51* 12.09* -11.54* -4.17 -2.78 27.27*

L
4
 x T

3
1.98 5.64* -9.62* -7.84 -11.90 -5.13

L
4
 x T

4
6.12* 8.33* -8.65* -8.21 -14.40 -4.94

L
5
 x T

1
-1.92 4.62* -13.08* -4.12 -16.18 14.00

L
5
 x T

2
-0.98 7.81* -6.07* 3.08 -4.41 22.64

L
5
 x T

3
0.56 2.44 -6.07* -2.90 -19.05* -10.53

L
5
 x T

4
0.96 3.91* -5.61* -3.81 -15.56 -38.00

L
6
 x T

1
- -100* -2.22 -0.56 -23.21 -2.27

L
6
 x T

2
- -100* -3.33 -2.25 -16.07 0.00

L
6
 x T

3
- -100* -9.50* -4.74 -33.33* -20.00*

L
6
 x T

4
- -100'* -12.62* -6.71* -33.33* -17.81

S. Em. (±) 0.77 0.67 0.96 0.83 0.13 0.11
* Significant at 5% level

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 4 (2): 170-173, 2009

Heterosis in bitter gourd



172

Table 3. Estimates of heterobeltiosis and mean heterosis (%) for various traits in bitter gourd

Cross Fruit length Fruit width Fruit weight (g) No. of fruits/ vine
BP M P BP M P BP M P BP M P

L
1
 x T

1
11.63 -8.13 39.53* 17.14* 31.30 7.42 -3.51 -6.78

L
1
 x T

2
2.03 -23.35* 31.62* 1.00 5.28 1.07 22.91 1.54

L
1
 x T

3
-13.10* -29.47* 6.10 -13.38 15.61 -2.37 2.22 -12.21

L
1
 x T

4
-10.61 -37.57* 14.71 -16.52* 46.00 -9.56 -19.67 -26.32*

L
2
 x T

1
15.12* -1.00 -19.77 3.65 42.78* -3.02 22.37 -2.11

L
2
 x T

2
9.46 -13.83* -20.77 -4.81 18.06 -3.95 -6.58 -12.35

L
2
 x T

3
9.29 -7.27 6.10 -10.71 21.05 -14.81 -22.37 -28.92

L
2
 x T

4
-6.06 -31.11* 13.24 -14.92 88.57* -5.71 10.53 -23.64*

L
3
 x T

1
20.76* 4.87 -6.98 -6.98 19.63 -0.62 14.13 1.94

L
3
 x T

2
4.52 -1.43 -6.76 -13.75 2.50 -0.27 -5.81 -8.99

L
3
 x T

3
9.09 -4.00 -22.39* -24.19* 7.37 -7.97 -21.11 -21.98

L
3
 x T

4
1.52 1.52 -12.06 -22.34'* 40.00 -11.71 -20.65 -38.14

L
4
 x T

1
-9.52 -10.59 0.51 -0.64 37.96* -0.67 18.06 -8.60

L
4
 x T

2
-19.05* -24.18* -4.59 -12.84 14.72 -1.67 -8.33 -16.46

L
4
 x T

3
-25.48* -25.48* -2.44 -5.88 29.82 -3.27 -18.60 -27.16

L
4
 x T

4
-15.15 -25.33* 0.88 -13.59 71.43* -8.40 13.89 -24.07*

L
5
 x T

1
-22.35* -22.81* -2.33 -2.33 20.00 -3.28 1.16 -13.00

L
5
 x T

2
-20.95* -26.42* -2.86 -10.15 -0.83 -6.05 -17.44 -17.44

L
5
 x T

3
-30.95* -31.36* -14.05 -16.10 9.65 -8.76 -13.95 -15.91

L
5
 x T

4
-21.97* -31.79* -10.29 -20.78* 41.71 -13.74 -8.14 -31.30*

L
6
 x T

1
-1.52 -14.47* 10.30 -4.12 59.45 2.02 45.61* -10.27

L
6
 x T

2
-19.70* -24.29* -8.42 -13.66 82.68* -4.72 69.77* -14.62

L
6
 x T

3
-21.21* -30.67* 7.39 -4.22 40.94 -13.11 56.22* -18.73*

L
6
 x T

4
-29.70* -20.7* -22.73 23.88* 31.50 -13.25 6.94 -23.00*

S. Em. (±) 0.89 0.77 0.72 0.62 0.14 0.12 0.24 0.21
* Significant at 5% level

Table 4. Estimates of heterobeltiosis and mean heterosis (%) for various traits in bitter gourd

Cross No. of fruits/ plot Yield/ vine Yield/ plot Yield
BP M P BP M P BP M P BP M P

L
1
 x T

1
-3.51 -6.78 58.51* 23.10 36.01* 5.62 35.25* 5.03

L
1
 x T

2
22.79 1.54 34.77 4.41 30.16 0.84 30.24 0.90

L
1
 x T

3
2.22 -13.21 48.62* 4.43 39.91* -1.69 37.22 -3.58

L
1
 x T

4
-19.67* -26.32* -4.55 -34.75* 36.36 -6.79 38.29 -5.97

L
2
 x T

1
22.37 -2.11 36.99* 19.35 14.09 -0.60 12.26 -2.19

L
2
 x T

2
-6.58 -12.35 23.58* 7.43 12.97 -1.79 9.78 -4.56

L
2
 x T

3
-22.37 -28.92 43.35 13.84 17.49 -6.69 15.94 -7.92

L
2
 x T

4
10.53 -23.64* 28.95 -0.19 5.56 -18.29 41.43 9.86

L
3
 x T

1
14.13 1.94 6.85 -0.36 2.98 -3.97 1.64 -5.22

L
3
 x T

2
-5.81 -8.99 -4.72 -11.33 3.00 -4.16 1.67 -5.39

L
3
 x T

3
-21.11 -21.98 8.49 -7.35 0.24 -14.35 1.84 -13.02

L
3
 x T

4
-20.65 -38.14* -1.44 -17.85 0.78 -16.00 1.88 -15.08

L
4
 x T

1
18.06 -8.60 8.81 3.25 3.77 -1.53 7.82 2.31

L
4
 x T

2
-8.33 -16.46 1.38 -4.00 -1.77 -6.98 2.01 -3.40

L
4
 x T

3
-4.17 -14.81 9.40 -4.79 8.37 -5.69 -1.26 -14.70

L
4
 x T

4
13.89 -24.07* -10.29 -23.78 5.86 -10.06 5.28 -10.55

L
5
 x T

1
1.16 -13.00 11.55 6.54 7.00 2.20 2.64 -1.98

L
5
 x T

2
-17.44 -17.44 4.52 -0.37 6.29 1.31 1.87 -2.90

L
5
 x T

3
-13.95 -15.91 8.94 -4.52 8.08 -5.28 4.59 -8.34

L
5
 x T

4
-8.14 -31.30* 9.81 -6.04 10.05 -5.83 2.91 -11.94

L
6
 x T

1
45.61* -10.27 8.61 5.31 4.21 1.04 6.07 2.85

L
6
 x T

2
63.95* -17.54* 0.59 -2.66 2.75 -0.57 2.45 -0.86

L
6
 x T

3
56.22* -18.73* 5.50 -6.03 4.64 -6.79 3.32 -7.97

L
6
 x T

4
6.94 -23.00* 7.66 -6.35 3.77 -9.73 0.48 -12.59

S. Em. (±) 0.10 0.87 0.30 0.267 0.13 0.11 0.23 0.20
* Significant at 5% level

Murlee Yadav et al

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 4 (2): 170-173, 2009



173

Table 5. Estimates of heterobeltiosis and mean heterosis (%) for
various traits in bitter gourd

Cross Vitamin C Powdery mildew
content infestation

BP M P BP M P

L
1
 x T

1
1.16 -1.13 -12.12 27.01*

L
1
 x T

2
6.56* -0.72 -23.23* 4.11

L
1
 x T

3
32.97* 9.75* -12.12* 15.23*

L
1
 x T

4
0.34 0.19 -6.06 14.81*

L
2
 x T

1
14.86* -18.85* -20.00* 8.47

L
2
 x T

2
22.3* -18.65* -10.00 13.39

L
2
 x T

3
8.11 -3.03 -5.00 15.15*

L
2
 x T

4
16.22* -15.27* -2.50 9.09

L
3
 x T

1
2.98 -2.72 -7.91 44.63*

L
3
 x T

2
5.35* -5.19* -4.32 43.01*

L
3
 x T

3
26.92* 8.71* -2.88 41.36*

L
3
 x T

4
0.00 -2.99* -1.44 35.64*

L
4
 x T

1
2.49 -3.52* -7.32 41.61*

L
4
 x T

2
5.39* -5.58 -5.28 37.06*

L
4
 x T

3
28.02* 10.17* -3.66 35.43*

L
4
 x T

4
0.00 -3.41* -3.25 27.96*

L
5
 x T

1
3.69 0.90 -7.03 43.37*

L
5
 x T

2
0.00 -1.89 -5.04 38.29*

L
5
 x T

3
52.20* 18.38* -5.08 35.00*

L
5
 x T

4
8.53* 2.94* -3.91 28.50*

L
6
 x T

1
0.38 -1.12 -10.95* 39.43*

L
6
 x T

2
1.52 -4.64* -8.03 36.96*

L
6
 x T

3
38.46* 13.26* -6.20 35.98*

L
6
 x T

4
1.16 0.19 -3.65 32.00*

S. Em. (±) 0.21 0.19 0.19 0.16
* Significant at 5% level

For vine length, number of primary branches
vine-1, number of nodes, internodal length, heterobeltiosis
and mean heterosis of two best cross combinations ranged
from 24.51 (L

5
 x T

4
) to –1976% (L

4
 x T

4
), 28.47 (L

1
 x T

1
)

to 293.65% (L
3
 x T

2
), 33.96 (L

6
 x T

2
) to 45.28% (L

6
 x T

1
),

-26.92 (L
6
 x T

2
) to –34.34% (L

6
 x T

1
) and 29.81 (L

1
 x T

3
)

to 25.43% (L
2
 x T

3
), 8.82 (L

1
 x T

1
) to 251.77% (L

3
 x T

2
),

4.18 (L
3
 x T

2
) to 4.95% (L

3
 x T

1
), -20.62 (L

6 
x T

4
) to –

21.92% (L
6
 x T

1
), respectively. The above investigation was

also in agreement with the work of Rao et al (2000) for
branches vine-1 and vine length in ridge gourd. Heterosis
over better parent was also reported by Abusaleha and Dutta
(1994) for branches per vine and vine length in ridge gourd.
Maurya et al (2003) also found all negative heterosis over
better parent for internodal length in bitter gourd.

The heterobeltiosis of two best crosses, such as L
2

x T
3
 and L

1
 x T

3
 was of the order of –4.95 and –7.43% and

mean heterosis of two best crosses L
6
 x T

1
 and L

6
 x T

2
 are

of the order of –100 and –100% for days to first appearance
of male flower. The heterobeltiosis for days to first
appearance of female flower of two best crosses viz., L

1
 x

T
2
 and L

1
 x T

1
 are of the order of –19.50 and –23.00% and

mean heterosis  –14.50 (L
1
 x T

3
) to –17.65% (L

1
 x T

1
) for

days to first female flower appearance. The heterobeltiosis
for first effective node of two best crosses such as L

5
 x T

4

and L
3
 x T

3
 are of the order of –38.89 to –41.67%. The

mean heterosis of two best crosses for first effective node of
two best crosses L

3 
x T

4
 and L

3
 x T

3
 in the order of 38.00 and

–27.94%. Similar finding was also reported by Maurya et al
(2003) for earliness for days to first male and female opening
in bitter gourd. It was interpreted that days to first appearance
of male flowers, days to first female flower and node number
to first female flower negative heterosis is desirable.

The heterobeltiosis for vitamin C of two best crosses
such as L

6
 x T

3
 and L

5
 x T

3
 was of the order of 38.46 and

52.20% and mean heterosis of two best crosses like L
6
 x T

3

and L
5
 x T

3
 was of the order of 13.26 and 18.38%. However,

the heterobeltiosis for powdery mildew resistance of two
best crosses such as L

1
 x T

2
 and L

2
 x T

1
 was of the order

of –20.00 to –23.23% and mean heterosis of crosses L
1
 x

T
1 
and L

2
 x T

1
 was of the order of 4.11 and 8.47%.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Authors are thankful to the Head, Department of
Horticulture, Allahabad Agricultural Institute-Deemed University
for giving all the research facilities during the research work.

REFERENCES

Abusaleha and Dutta, O.P. 1994. Manifestation of heterosis
in Ridge gourd. Ind. J. Hort., 51: 389-392

Kempthorne, O.1957.The theory of diallel
cross,Genet.41:451-459

Kushwaha, M.L. and Ram, Hari Har, 2002. Heterosis in
bitter gourd (Lagenaria siceraria Standl Mol.)
Prog. Hort., 34: 174-178

Maurya, S.K., Ram, Hari Har and Singh, J.P. 2003. Hybrid
breeding in bottle gourd. Prog. Hort., 35: 46-50

Narasinghani,V.G. and Tiwari, A.1995. The performance of
garden pea varieties with dual resistance against
powdery mildew and fusarium wilt. Veg. Sci. 22: 62-67

Rao, B, Rao, N, Venkata, P. and Reddy, B.M. 2000.
Heterosis in ridge gourd (Luffa acutangula Roxb
L.) Haryana J. Hort. Sci., 29: 96-98

Singh, D.K. and Kumar, Rajesh, 2002. Heterosis in bitter
gourd (Lagenaria siceraria Standl Mol.). Prog.
Hort., 34 (2) : 204 – 207

Sirohi, P.S., and Choudhury, B. 1978. Heterosis in bitter
gourd. Veg. Sci., 5 : 15-21

(MS Received 13 July 2009, Revised 12 December 2009)

Heterosis in bitter gourd

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 4 (2): 170-173, 2009