The establishment of the species-delimits and varietal-identities of the cultivated germplasm of Cucumis melo and Cucumis sativus in Sri Lanka using morphometric, organoleptic and phylogenetic approaches

The establishment of the species-delimits and varietal-identities of the cultivated germplasm of Cucumis melo and Cucumis sativus in Sri Lanka using morphometric, organoleptic and phylogenetic approaches | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article The establishment of the species-delimits and varietal-identities of the cultivated germplasm of Cucumis melo and Cucumis sativus in Sri Lanka using morphometric, organoleptic and phylogenetic approaches P. R.S. Pathirana, E. Y. Fernando, A. M.K.R. Bandara, D. M.D. Dissanayake, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7757768/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Cucumis melo L. (vern. Kekiri) is an important but underutilized vegetable in Sri Lanka, traditionally used for both culinary and medicinal purposes. Despite its cultural significance, the genetic and phenotypic diversity of Sri Lankan C. melo germplasm has remained largely unexplored. In contrast, C. melo and C. sativus cultivars in developed countries have been extensively characterized, with rich genomic resources available to support crop improvement. This study aimed to establish species delimitation and varietal identities of cultivated C. melo and C. sativus germplasm in Sri Lanka using morphometric, organoleptic, and molecular approaches. An island-wide germplasm collection was undertaken, including 11 C. melo and 9 C. sativus genotypes, which were assessed using IPGRI descriptors, field morphological trials, and consumer preference analyses. Organoleptic evaluation revealed complex sensory profiles across cooking, salad, and fruit varieties, with sweetness emerging as a key determinant of preference in fruit types, while bitterness negatively influenced salad varieties. Molecular barcoding using rbcL and trnH-psbA markers enabled phylogenetic analysis, species delimitation, and divergence dating. Results indicated clear genetic differentiation between C. melo and C. sativus germplasm, with divergence estimated at ~ 23 million years, older than previous reports. Concatenated marker analysis improved resolution of varietal relationships, supporting conservation and breeding applications. This integrative study provides the first comprehensive characterization of Sri Lankan C. melo germplasm, establishing a foundation for its promotion as a vegetable, medicinal resource, and valuable genetic pool for future crop improvement. Cucumis melo Kekiri underutilized vegetable germplasm DNA barcoding phylogenetics phenomics Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7757768","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":532744642,"identity":"1fc9706b-64bc-4654-8fb1-14a5fde56977","order_by":0,"name":"P. R.S. 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organoleptic and phylogenetic approaches","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Cucumis melo, Kekiri, underutilized vegetable, germplasm, DNA barcoding, phylogenetics, phenomics","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7757768/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7757768/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCucumis melo\u003c/em\u003e L. (vern. Kekiri) is an important but underutilized vegetable in Sri Lanka, traditionally used for both culinary and medicinal purposes. Despite its cultural significance, the genetic and phenotypic diversity of Sri Lankan \u003cem\u003eC. melo\u003c/em\u003e germplasm has remained largely unexplored. In contrast, \u003cem\u003eC. melo\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eC. sativus\u003c/em\u003e cultivars in developed countries have been extensively characterized, with rich genomic resources available to support crop improvement. This study aimed to establish species delimitation and varietal identities of cultivated \u003cem\u003eC. melo\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eC. sativus\u003c/em\u003e germplasm in Sri Lanka using morphometric, organoleptic, and molecular approaches. An island-wide germplasm collection was undertaken, including 11 \u003cem\u003eC. melo\u003c/em\u003e and 9 \u003cem\u003eC. sativus\u003c/em\u003e genotypes, which were assessed using IPGRI descriptors, field morphological trials, and consumer preference analyses. Organoleptic evaluation revealed complex sensory profiles across cooking, salad, and fruit varieties, with sweetness emerging as a key determinant of preference in fruit types, while bitterness negatively influenced salad varieties. Molecular barcoding using \u003cem\u003erbcL\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003etrnH-psbA\u003c/em\u003e markers enabled phylogenetic analysis, species delimitation, and divergence dating. Results indicated clear genetic differentiation between \u003cem\u003eC. melo\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eC. sativus\u003c/em\u003e germplasm, with divergence estimated at ~\u0026thinsp;23\u0026nbsp;million years, older than previous reports. Concatenated marker analysis improved resolution of varietal relationships, supporting conservation and breeding applications. This integrative study provides the first comprehensive characterization of Sri Lankan \u003cem\u003eC. melo\u003c/em\u003e germplasm, establishing a foundation for its promotion as a vegetable, medicinal resource, and valuable genetic pool for future crop improvement.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"The establishment of the species-delimits and varietal-identities of the cultivated germplasm of Cucumis melo and Cucumis sativus in Sri Lanka using morphometric, organoleptic and phylogenetic approaches","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-10-23 23:09:55","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7757768/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"0c18b626-52be-44fc-ba42-3fe5203d5d62","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 23rd, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-11-17T07:09:12+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-10-23 23:09:55","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7757768","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7757768","identity":"rs-7757768","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}