Correlation among agronomic, physiological and phytochemical traits in Artemisia annua L. varieties Correla o entre caracteres agron micos, fisiológicos e fitoquímicos em variedades de Artemisia annua L

The aim of this study was to estimate the correlations among agronomic, physiological and phytochemical traits of two varieties of Artemisia annua and to identify correlations that can be used in selection and breeding processes for this species. The design was completely randomized and the treatments were for Artemisia annua varieties 2/39x5x3M and 2/39x1V, which were subjected to agronomic, physiological and phytochemical evaluations. The relationship among the studied traits was estimated with Pearson's correlation coefficient, and the significance level of correlations was established by the t-test using Genes software. A significant positive correlation was found between the traits canopy volume and essential oil yield for 2/39x5x3M variety, showing that the selection of plants with a larger canopy volume would facilitate indirect selection of the trait essential oil yield. This correlation was not found for the 2/39x1V variety. In both varieties, there was a significant negative correlation between canopy volume and artemisinin content, which suggested that the selection of plants with a large canopy volume and a large number of branches should be avoided if the goal is to increase artemisinin content. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estimar as correla es existentes entre caracteres agron micos, fisiológicos e fitoquímicos em duas variedades de Artemisia annua e identificar correla es que possam ser utilizadas em processos de sele o e melhoramento da espécie. O delineamento foi inteiramente casualizado e os tratamentos foram às variedades 2/39x5x3M e 2/39x1V de Artemisia annua, submetidas a avalia es agron micas, fisiológicas e fitoquímicas. A rela o existente entre os caracteres estudados foi estimada através do coeficiente de correla o de Pearson e o nível de significancia das correla es pelo teste t, realizadas no programa Genes. Encontrou-se correla o positiva e significativa entre os caracteres volume de dossel e rendimento de óleo essencial na variedade 2/39x5x3M, evidenciando que a sele o de plantas com maior volume de dossel possibilitaria a sele o indireta para o cárater rendimento de óleo essencial. Esta correla o n o foi encontrada na variedade 2/39x1V. Em ambas as variedades, observou-se correla o negativa e significativa entre volume de dossel e teor de artemisinina indicando que deve-se evitar a sele o de plantas com grande volume de dossel e número de ramifica es, se o interesse do melhoramento for maior teor de artemisinina.