Morphological identification of underutilized local fruits in Kutai Barat Regency to support their conservation and sustainable use

• Main Authors: Handayani, Fitri, Nurbani, Pebriandi, Asep
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: Economic development; Fruits; Morphology; Orchards; Regional development; Seeds
• ISSN: 0094-243X; 1551-7616
• DOI: 10.1063/5.0075594

Kutai Barat Regency has huge genetic resources of local fruit plants. However, most of them are still underutilized and even some species are threatened with extinction. Those fruits generally grow in secondary forests and traditional orchards called lembo. The aims of this study were to identify and morphologically characterize underutilized local fruits found in several lembo in Kutai Barat Regency in order to support their conservation efforts. The study was carried out in March 2020 in several lembo in Tering and Linggang Bigung Districts. Observation for plant characterization was carried out on the characters of trees, leaves, fruits, and seeds consisted of qualitative and quantitative characters. Seven species of underutilized local fruits have been identified and characterized, that were ihau, keramuq, rekeep, hivauu, kapul, ruuiq, and jentiq'an. As part of the culture and local wisdom, lembo plays an important role in genetic conservation of underutilized local fruits in Kutai Barat. Furthermore, lembo also plays role in support regional economic development. Registration of local varieties for superior accessions needs to be done as part of the initial efforts of conservation based on legal protection. Registration of horticultural varieties is also needed to support its direct utilization through large scale plant development.