MORPHOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THREE ACCESSIONS OF TWO CULTIVATED OKRA SPECIES

ABSTRACT

Three accessions of two cultivated Okra species, Abelmoschus esculentus and Abelmoschus caillei were characterized using morphological and protein profiling characteristics. All accessions were obtained from NACGRAB, Ibadan, Oyo state. Agro morphological characters including vegetative, quantitative and fruit characters were assessed. SDS-PAGE technique was used to characterize soluble protein extracted from dry Okra fruit samples. Result on the number of days to 50% germination showed that all the accessions attained 50% germination by the fourth day. High level of variability was observed in the quantitative characters assessed. The result of fruit morphological characters was similar for all the accessions. The bands from protein profiling distinguished, more than the morphological parameters used, between the accessions of A. esculentus and A. caillei.