Genetic Resources of Seed Spices

India is a major producer, consumer, and exporter of seed spices in the world. The major seed spices, namely, coriander, cumin, fennel, and fenugreek, have Pan-Indian presence although major cultivation happens in Western India. All these spices have originated in Mediterranean region, yet good variation is present in India. Efforts have been made to collect, characterize, and evaluate the germplasm in India. Morphological traits which can be used to describe the genetic resources have been presented in this chapter. Species diversity in seed spices particularly in cumin is either absent or very limited. Available literature indicates that species diversity is mostly located in Mediterranean region as expected. The evaluation of the species diversity does not provide any traits that may be transferred to cultivated forms. Evaluation data for major yield components indicated that variation for yield and yield-related traits exists which can be used for developing high-yielding genotypes. Excepting fenugreek which shows self-pollination, all the major seed spices have cross-pollination as a mode of reproduction. Therefore, maintenance of genetic resources requires care so that the genetic structure of the population is maintained. This chapter looks at the plant genetic resources of seed spices briefly, and scientific methods of conservation of the genetic resources are presented.