The analysis of successive measurements of a trait, in a group of individuals, is a recommended procedure in the genetic improvement of crops, because it is expected that the superiority or inferiority of an individual in relation to the others remains over the measurements. The veracity of this expectation can be evaluated by the coefficient of repeatability of the traits. The objectives of this work were (1) to determine the coefficient of repeatability of the following traits: mean mass, longitudinal length, equatorial diameter, mean mass of pulp and skin, and skin thickness; and (2) to determine the minimum number of evaluations for an efficient process of genotype selection of passion fruit. Data on twenty half-sib progenies from the passion fruit improvement program were used in the study. Differences were observed among estimates of repeatability coefficients obtained by variance analysis and multivariate methods. Principal components analysis based on the covariance matrix always presented higher estimates, mainly for skin thickness and longitudinal length of fruits. Eighteen measurements were enough to predict the real value of individuals with 90% accuracy in the first year of production, for fruit fresh mass, pulp and peel mass, longitudinal length and equatorial diameter.
Estimation; measurement; Passiflora edulis Sims
