Abstract
Aegle marmelos L. (Bael) is a native tree fruit species in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Bael is a popular fruit because of its significant nutritional and medicinal properties. However, bael is an underutilized fruit species in Sri Lanka. Thus, Fruit Crop Research and Development Station of the Department of Agriculture of Sri Lanka has selected five elite bael accessions (Beheth Beli, Paragammana, Mawanella, Rambukkana, and Polonnaruwa-Supun). We assessed these five accessions for the variation of the fruit size, pulp, organoleptic preference, elemental properties, genetic diversity, and evolutionary history. The fruits at the golden-ripe stage were collected during the peak fruiting seasons in 2015, 2016, and 2017. The fruit size, pulp, shell thickness, and seed size were measured and subjected to the General Linear Model (GLM) and Principal Component (PC) Analyses. The fruit pulp was distributed among a group of 30 taste-panelists to rank for the parameters: external appearance, flesh color, aroma, texture, sweetness, and overall preference. The rank data were subjected to association and PC analyses. The elemental contents of the fruit pulp samples were measured using Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and subjected to GLM and PC analyses. We observed a significant diversity in fruit size, organoleptic preference, and elemental contents among bael accessions. Rambukkana and Polonnaruwa-Supun yield the biggest and most preferred fruits. We used trnH-psbA, atpB-rbcL spacer, matk-trnT spacer, and trnL markers to construct phylogenies. Sri Lankan bael split from an Indian counterpart, approximately 8.52 MYA in the Pliocene epoch. However, broader germplasm of Indian bael must be assessed to see the presence of any independent evolution within Sri Lanka.
Highlights
Aegle marmelos L. (Bael) is an indigenous tree fruit species in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia
The mean fruit size parameters were markedly lower in Beheth Beli (BB) and Primer Annealing (PA) (Table 2)
We examined Principal Component (PC) biplot and PC triplot to infer the relationships among the bael accessions based on the Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) elemental contents of ripe fruits (Fig 5 and S4C Fig)
Summary
Aegle marmelos L. (Bael) is an indigenous tree fruit species in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. (Bael) is an indigenous tree fruit species in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The gardens of many Indian Hindu temples have bael trees [3]. The ripe fruit, which contains a delicious pulp, is the most valuable part of the bael tree [4]. People mainly consume bael as fresh fruit. All parts of the bael tree possess medicinal values [7]. Bael is famous as a valuable crop with immense medicinal and nutritional potentials [8]. There are many reports available on the medicinal and industrial values of bael in India [9,10,11,12,13]. Bael is an underutilized crop species in Sri Lanka [14]
Published Version (Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have