Brazil is one of the largest producers of guava, Psidium guajava L., of the world. Orchards from seminal propagation, owing to cross-pollination, result in large variability, allowing the selection of genotypes for crop improvement. The aim of this essay was to study the genetic diversity of genotypes selected from seminal origin orchard (named Cortibel I to XIII) and compare them to Paluma and Pedro Sato and Roxa genotype (purchased in nursery), by morphological and quality of fruit characteristics. There was divergence between Cortibel selections. Cortibel I was the most divergent between red pulp genotypes and between all the others, showing the best performance for fruit characteristics. CVIII and CIV genotypes obtained the best performance between light pulp genotypes. Cortibel selections presented similar performance about fruit quality to commercial crops, providing good material for use as new cultivars or for hybridizations in breeding programs.
Psidium guajava; plant breeding; fruit quality; morphological descriptors
