Temperature Effect on Morphobiochemical Characters in Some Black Gram (Vigna mungo) Genotypes

Lack of suitable varieties and genotypes of black gram with adaptation to local conditions is among the factors affecting its production. Efforts to genetically improve the crop mostly involve identifying important morphological descriptors followed by development of advanced breeding lines for locale-specific cultivars. The present day available black gram varieties have not been properly characterized for their thermo sensitiveness with respect to morphological and biochemical characters. Hence efforts were taken in the present research to study the effect of the temperature on these characters in seven black gram varieties over different development stages. We aimed at studying the effect of 3 temperature regimes for identifying suitable stress tolerant genotypes. High percent germination (87.2%), root length (3.68 cm), carbohydrate content (3.72 mg g(-1) fresh tissue) among the genotypes was highest at 10°C-20°C temperature. High shoot length (13.39 cm), free amino acid content (3.73 mg g(-1) fresh tissue), and protein content (9.54 mg g(-1) fresh tissue) was found to be present when the genotypes were exposed to 20°C-30°C temperature. The black gram varieties J.L and PDU-1 performed best in all the temperature regimes over characters. Thus suitable varieties for all temperature regimes were identified using biochemical analysis.