Evaluation of Cytological and Morphological Characteristics of S. aethiopicum Var “Anara Adazi” Found in Anambra State

Solanum aethiopicum L. var “anara Adazi” is a yearly shrub in the family Solanaceae. It is produced for its edible fruits which are cooked and eaten as a vegetable. In our locality, S. aethiopicum var “anara Adazi” is both nutritionally and medicinally important. But its morphological and basic mitotic and meiotic chromosomal counts are yet to be evaluated. This study was carried out to investigate the mitotic and meiotic chromosome counts and the external features of S. aethiopicum with regards to cytological and morphological characteristics. Mitotic and meiotic cytological study was done using the root tip and flower buds squash techniques, respectively. Morphological study was done by optical observations and use of hand lens to magnify those parts which are quite tiny. The Cytological result revealed the plant to be diploid with mitotic counts of 2n=2x=24 and meiotic chromosome number as n=12. The morphological result revealed among others the habit of the plant to be a fairly woody annual in the temperate or perennial shrub in other regions, leaves are alternately arranged, pinnately veined, and a racemose flower. Cytological studies indicated that the plant’s degree of fertility and viability is high and could be employed in hybridization programme. The overall data are valuable for taxonomic characterization and identification of the plant species in the genus.