Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p> Coriander ( <italic>Coriandrum sativum</italic> L.) is an economically important seed spice cultivated worldwide for its aromatic seeds, which are extensively utilized in culinary, pharmaceutical and fragrance industries. Harnessing rich genetic diversity preserved in indigenous germplasm offers considerable opportunities for improving seed quality and essential oil composition; however, integrated morpho-biochemical evaluations of these genetic resources remain limited. In present study, we comprehensively characterized 30 indigenous coriander accessions collected from diverse agro-climatic regions of Madhya Pradesh, India, by integrating seed morphological traits, essential oil content, GC-HS-based volatile metabolite profiling, genetic variability estimates and multivariate statistical analyses. Significant (P ≤ 0.05) variation was observed across all investigated traits, revealing extensive morpho-biochemical diversity within germplasm. Total oil content ranged from 6.45 to 13.85%, whereas linalool, the principal volatile constituent, varied from 67.11 to 94.58%. Significant variation was also observed for α-pinene (0.94–22.38%) and geranyl acetate (0.00–6.37%), facilitating identification of chemically distinct linalool- and α-pinene-rich chemotypes. High heritability accompanied by substantial genetic advance for essential oil content, α-pinene, geranyl acetate, 100-seed weight and seed length suggested predominance of additive gene action, highlighting these traits as promising targets for selection in coriander breeding. Hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) further divided accessions into genetically distinct groups, with first two principal components explaining 78.7% of total phenotypic variation. The elite accessions identified in this study, combining superior seed characteristics with desirable essential oil profiles, constitute valuable genetic resources for cultivar improvement. Collectively, these findings provide a comprehensive resource for conservation and utilization of indigenous coriander germplasm and establish a strong foundation for developing high-yielding cultivars with enhanced seed quality and tailored essential oil composition to meet increasing demands of food, pharmaceutical and fragrance industries. </p>