Morphological and biochemical diversity assessment of Garcinia indica(Thouars) choisy germplasm

Abstract

A study on ^Morphological and biochemical diversity assessment of Garcinia indica (Thouars) Choisy germplasm' was conducted to find out variations in G. indica germplasm maintained at NBPGR Regional station, Thrissur. The study attempted to evaluate variability in general tree characters, flower, fhiit, biochemical characters and physio-chemical properties of butter. It was observed that large variability was present in morphometric characters like height, GBH and height of first branch, whereas characters like canopy shape and branching habit did not show much variations. In comparison to the general tree characters, leaf and flower characters showed less variability. Among all the leaf characters studied, petiole length showed largest variation (CV=20.2 percent). In case of flower characters, maximum variability was observed in pedicel length. Variability was also observed in the timing of flowering, which ranged from October to January. Variability study on fruit characters like fruit weight, rind weight and number of fruits showed significant variations. Yield ranged from 220 to 1050 fruits per tree. Fruit colour did not show much variations, mainly being dark purple and red. Primary metabolites like carbohydrates, proteins and crude fat showed considerable variability, while it was observed to be comparatively low in TSS and reducing sugar. Variability was also observed in secondary metabolites like phenols (CV = 29.1 percent) and ilavanoids (CV = 17.9 percent). It was observed that Hydroxy citric acid was present in large quantity in fruit rind, average being 36.5 g/IOOg. The variability study on minerals like Ca, Na, Mg, K and P revealed that K was present in the largest quantity, followed by Mg. Maximum variability was observed in P content (CV=24.4 percent) while minimum in K content (CV =9.5 percent). The average vitamin C content was estimated to be 37.17 mg/lOOg and CV being 27.6 percent. Variabilit>' study on physio- chemical properties of kokum butter showed that on an average 30.55 percent of butter (CV=12 percent) was obtained from the seeds. Less variability was present in the melting and pour point of butter. Chemical properties of butter like saponification value, acid value and iodine value also showed less variability.