Karyomorphological Study on 21 Shallot Cultivars (Allium cepa L. var. ascalonicum) Released by BALITSA Indonesia in 1984-2018

Shallot (Allium cepa L. var. ascalonicum) is a vegetable commodity with consistently increasing demand each year in Indonesia. BALITSA Research Centre released 21 superior cultivars between 1984 and 2018 to support production, but there were no research on their karyotype characteristics. The 21 cultivars were studied during prometaphase mitosis using the squash method to identify chromosomal variations. All cultivars shared the same chromosome number, 2n = 16, but exhibited differences in chromosome size and shape, most of which were metacentric, submetacentric, and subtelocentric. The findings will inform breeding programs in Indonesia to improve shallot quality.