DOI: 10.17557/tjfc.1946466 ISSN: 1301-1111

Identifying Candidate Parents for Opium Poppy Breeding by Integrated Multivariate Analysis

Uğur Özkan, Yasin Özgen
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Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.) is cultivated for pharmaceutical alkaloids and nutritional seeds, and cultivar improvement depends on identifying candidate parents that combine high yield potential with stable, heritable trait expression. Although multivariate methods have characterized genetic diversity in poppy germplasm, few studies link genetic parameter estimation to multivariate grouping to guide candidate parental choice before hybridization. This study evaluated 23 poppy hybrids and 2 standard cultivars over three growing seasons (2021-2023) in Ankara, Türkiye, integrating cluster analysis, principal component analysis, and genetic parameter estimation to determine candidate parents. 18 agronomic, phenological, and chemical traits were assessed. Cluster analysis resolved the material into 5 groups that differed in yield, morphology, and alkaloid profile. Substantial genetic variation was detected, and yield-related traits accounted for the largest share of total phenotypic variance (49%). Capsule yield, seed yield, capsule number, and 1000-seed weight combined high heritability with high genetic advance, indicating additive gene action and strong selection potential. Alkaloid traits showed greater environmental sensitivity (ECV 28-57%). Based on these findings, the hybrids were classified into high-yielding (H12, H15, H23), morphologically distinct (H18), and high-alkaloid (H21) hybrids as candidate parents for strategic crossing to maximize transgressive segregation. This integrated framework enables efficient parental selection for simultaneous improvement of yield and desired traits in poppy breeding programs.

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