Seed Yield and Characteristics in a Half-Diallel Pumpkin Population

In addition to fresh and roasted pumpkin seeds used in human nutrition, they are used as an additive to bread, salami, sausage, mayonnaise and many food products because of their high protein content. The most common problem encountered in the cultivation of confectionary pumpkin is the lack of varieties with good seed yield and quality in the market. In this study, it was aimed to reveal the promising hybrids with superior characteristics by determining the yield and seed characteristics of the 13 pumpkin inbred lines (Cucurita pepo) and 74 hybrid lines which are obtained by crossing between inbred lines and two local varieties (3-Hatun Tirnagi and 4-Cercevelik) as control. As a result of the study, the highest positive correlation was found between seed thickness and 1000 seed weight and between seed length and seed width. The crosses of 31x34, 23x28, 13x23, 38x40, 29x37, 30x31 and 23x29, especially 40x29, in the positive region of both components showed superior performance compared to their parents in all parameters. These hybrids have emerged as promising crosses to develop the F1 hybrid confectionary pumpkin varieties