EVALUATION OF FRUIT AND SEED YIELD AS WELL AS POSTHARVEST QUALITY OF SOME NEW GENOTYPES OF OKRA [Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) MOENCH]

The present study was carried out during the two successive summer seasons of 2008 and 2009 at Sabahia Horticultural Research Station, Alexandria, Egypt. This investigation aimed to evaluate five genotypes of okra for their edible pods and seed yieldsas well as fruit post harvest quality.It was found that Alexandria 1 cultivargave the highest mean values for edible pod length, number of early edible pods/plant, and total edible pod  yield (kg/fed). Alexandria 2 cultivar had the highest mean values for early edible pod yield (kg/fed). Line 1 gave the highest mean values for number of mature pods/ plant; in addition, it was significantly equal to Alexandria 1 cultivar regarding pod length, and Alexandria 2 cultivar concerning weight of 100 seeds. Line2 exhibited the highest mean values for total number of edible pods/plant, number of seeds/pod, and total seed yield (kg/fed). Line 3 showed the highest mean values for edible pod weight, but, it gave the lowest percentage of dry matter in edible pods comparing with the other genotypes. Pod color of Alexandria 1 cultivar was light green. But, it was dark green in lines 1 and 3, and medium green in Alexandria 2 cultivar and line 2. The storage period had significant effects on all chemical traits of okra pods. Total carbohydrate percentage decreased as the period of storage was prolonged. Significant losses were incident after 3 and 6 days of storage. In addition, the significant difference was recorded after 3 days of storage regarding dry matter percentage, where it decreased in all genotypes except for line 2. Meanwhile, contents of crude fibersin okra pods increased as the period of storage was prolonged till 6 days then decreased after 9 days. Also, total crude protein content of okra pods increased as the period of storage was prolonged. Significant increase was incident after 9 days of storage.