Diversity of wood-apple (Limonia acidissima L., Rutaceae) genetic resources in South India

• Published in: Genetic resources and crop evolution 2022-12, Vol.69 (8), p.2929-2946
• Main Authors: Lamani, Shrinivas, Murthy, Hosakatte Niranjana
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture; Apples; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cluster analysis; Composition; Domestication; Fruits; Genetic diversity; Genetic resources; Genetic variability; Genotypes; Life Sciences; Limonia acidissima; Multivariate statistical analysis; Notes on Neglected and Underutilized Crops; Plant Genetics and Genomics; Plant Physiology; Plant Sciences; Plant species; Plant Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography; Population studies; Populations; Principal components analysis; Pulp; Rutaceae; Statistical analysis; Wood
• ISSN: 0925-9864; 1573-5109
• DOI: 10.1007/s10722-022-01467-7

Wood-apple ( Limonia acidissima L.) is an undomesticated nutritionally and medicinally potential monotypic tree species of the genus Limonia , which belongs to the family Rutaceae. This species is remained underexploited due to a lack of awareness regarding its significance and systematic study of its diversity. The present work was carried out to recognize the elite populations for future cultivation among the studied populations of South India. Considering a wide genetic diversity in wood-apple, 32 populations were assessed by the prepared set of qualitative and quantitative traits presented in this study. The tree height ranges between 7.68 and 16.69 m, canopy area was 18.78–36.36 m 3 whereas, the weight of the fruit ranges between 118.30 and 233.42 g, the percentage composition of pulp was 53.91–72.93% and the percentage composition of seed was 4.02–9.07%. The tree with medium height with an average of 11.13 m and having average stem girth of 2.62 m showed large-sized fruits with an average weight of 233.43 g and an average percentage of 65.04% of pulp (TN-03). The obtained results were subjected to multivariate statistical analysis, using the techniques of principal component analysis and cluster analysis, and were formed into 4 clusters. The formation of different clusters showed the genetic variability and the dissimilarity among the genotypes which could guide the selection of elite genotypes to enrich the programs of genetic improvement of the wood-apple. Out of 4 cluster groups, cluster 1 and cluster 2 could be used for domestication programs because they showed superior fruit-related traits by having the highest fruit, pulp, and seed weight even though they have average morphology of trees.