Five female clones of teasle gourd were evaluated for some morphological characters viz.; sepal length (mm), sepal width (mm), petal length (mm), petal width (mm), ovary length (mm), ovary diameter (mm), style length (mm), leaf shape, tendril character, stem character, flower colour, stigma head colour, fruit shape, spine character, spine colour at early stage and spine colour at marketable stage. Some agronomical characters viz.; length of main vine (m), no. of vines/plant, no. of leaves/plant fruit weight at marketable stage (g), ovary diameter (mm), no. of seeds/fruit, no. of fruits/plant, yield/plant (kg) were evaluated also. There were evaluated for seventeen different fruit and fruit quality characters viz., fruit weight at marketable stage (g), ovary diameter (mm), fruit length at marketable stage (cm), fruit breadth at marketable stage (cm), pericarp thickness at marketable stage (mm), TSS in exocarp (°Brix), TSS in mesocarp (°Brix), acidity in exocarp (%), acidity in mesocarp (%), ascorbic acid in exocarp (mg/100g), ascorbic acid in mesocarp (mg/100g), total sugar in exocarp (%), total sugar in mesocarp (%), reducing sugar in exocarp (%), reducing sugar in mesocarp (%), ß-carotene in exocarp (mg/100g fresh) and ß-carotene in mesocarp (mg/100g). Contents of TSS, acidity and sugar contents were much higher in the mesocarp of the fruit while, ascorbic acid and ß-carotene contents were much higher in the exocarp of the fruits. Selection of these characters would be effective for obtaining high qualitative genotype by additive gene effect. The location was research field of the All India Coordinated Research Project on vegetable crops of Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani, Nadia, West Bengal, India, situated at 23.5° n latitude and 89° e longitude with a mean sea level of 9.75 m. The female clones 'Assam local', 'Purulia local-1', 'Purulia local-2', 'Purulia local-3' and 'Mondouri local', collected from different places of West Bengal and Assam, were evaluated in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Selection of these characters would be effective for obtaining high qualitative genotype by additive gene effect. Selection of these characters would be effective for obtaining high qualitative genotype by additive gene effect.

Keywords: Teasle gourd, Germplasm, Morphological characters, Agronomical characters, Qualitative characters, Yield.