Abstract
Citrus maxima is a tropical fruit species with high morphological variability on fruit characters, including shape, size, thickness of peel, flesh color and taste. This variability has been used by breeders and common people to practically distinguish different pummelo cultivars. Despite such well known variation, so far there is no published study specifically addressed the extent of phenotypic variability and taxonomy of pummelo in Indonesia. This study was, therefore, aiming at assessing phenotypic variability and taxonomic affinity of Indonesian pummelo cultivars and landraces using multivariate analysis methods. A total of 60 accessions from six provinces were collected, including some representatives of registered cultivars. Twenty one morphological characters were subjected to cluster analysis and principal component analysis. Results showed that two major clusters were formed, in which each group was characterized by combination of distinctive morphological features leading to recognition of two cultivar groups. Based on the fact that the morphology of individuals from intensively cultivated orchards showed similar level of variability to those from sporadically distributed areas, there was strong indication that the morphological variation has genetic background.
Highlights
C. maxima is considered as an recognized grandis) is a tropical fruit plant species originated from species due to a number of notable morphological
Twenty one morphological characters, consisted of 15 qualitative and 6 quantitative, as shown in Table 1 were subjected to cluster analysis and principal component analysis
Results of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed that first principal component, which corresponded to the first axis, represented 16.42% of total variance, whereas the second principal component which was represented 29.19% of variance
Summary
C. maxima is considered as an recognized grandis) is a tropical fruit plant species originated from species due to a number of notable morphological. The high phenotypic variability of Indonesian view, C.maxima is considered to be one of three true Citrus pummelo resulted in the existence of various names species together with C. medica and C. reticulata based on applied to the same cultivars. Ratna Susandarini et al / American Journal of Agricultural and Biological Sciences 8 (3): 182-190, 2013 country This problem may in turn lead to a more serious issue in determining the strategy for conservation due to uncertainty on its true biological diversity. Pummelo as a plant species with long history of cultivation is facing a risk of decreasing variability as a result of artificial selection In this regard, Pickersgill (2009) pointed out that cultivated plants experiencing artificial selection during domestication process may face a problem of declining variability through elimination of unwanted phenotypic characters that might result in decresing genotypic variation. The problem of decreasing variability in pummelo needs a particular attention in preventing further loss of plant species that has not been fully uncovered
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