Evaluation of nutritional and grain quality diversity in rice (Oryza sativa L.) germplasm based on multivariate analysis

Two hundred traditional landraces and exotic genotypes from 12 countries were assessed for variability for eight-grain quality traits by UPGMA cluster analysis, Pearson’s correlation coefficient and principal component analysis. Analysis by the UPGMA method clustered 200 genotypes into two clusters. In PCA analysis, the first five principal components explained about 74.19 % of the total variation among the eight characters. Component 1 had contributions from all the traits and it accounted for 22.46 % of the total variability. Component 2 had the contribution from Grain width and Zinc content which accounted for 15.75% of the total variability. Component 3 had a contribution from grain length and amylose with a variability of 13.11%. Component 4 contributed from ASV and amylose and component 5 for ASV and GC with a variability of 11.63 per cent each. Thus, the results indicate a high level of genetic variation in the rice germplasm.