Genotypic diversity for fruit characteristics in bael [Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr.] based on principal component analysis

Abstract

Bael is a medicinal cum fruit tree with multipurpose utility and propagated mostly through seeds. It is mostly found in India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Thailand and China. Focus on collection of bael variability has increased in recent times with an aim towards their utilization as fresh or made into ‘Sharbat’, one of the most popular drinks in the Indian. Its lots of evidence have showed immense potential of nutritional and medicinal properties used in various ethnic societies. The present investigation was carried out to exploit genetic variability in bael fruits. Seventy-five genotypes were characterized for sixteen fruit traits viz. fruit weight, fruit length, fruit width, skin weight, no. of seed, seed weight, pulp weight, skin per cent, seed per cent, pulp per cent, skin thickness, fruit volume, TSS, acidity, reducing sugar and total sugars during 2015. Observations of growing seedling trees showed rich genetic variations regarding their fruit characteristics. The fruit characteristics, viz., fruit weight ranged from (315.20–1608.65 g), fruit length (81.39–173.43 mm), fruit width (89.76–136.35 mm), skin weight (88.62–358.07 g), number of seed (37.67–195.40), seed weight (7.48–54.33 g), pulp weight (201.17–1243.87 g), skin % (9.59–42.83%), seed % (0.97–7.97%), pulp % (53.72–89.33%), skin thickness (1.43–4.10 mm), volume of fruit (285.00–1555.00 cc), TSS (24.40–47.80°Brix), acidity (0.15–0.40%), reducing sugar (0.37–11.90 mg/100 g) and total sugars (7.14–20.83 mg/100 g) among the different genotypes. On the basis of overall assessment, one genotype, ICAR-RCER BS 6/1 was found to be the most promising. Based on fruit properties, principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to qualitatively and quantitatively discriminate the germplasm difference. Eight principal components, which contribute 94.80% of the total variability, were selected for analysis. Biplot between PC1 and PC2 showed that genotypes namely ICAR-RCER BS 6/1, 18/2, 25/5, 21/1, 17/3, 26/1, 18/5, 1/11, 8/1 and 14/4 were very different from each other.