Morphological, biochemical and sensory analysis of selected Actinidia callosa var. strigillosa female accessions from the existing wild populations in North Sikkim, India

Abstract

ABSTRACT An analysis of wild kiwifruit (Actinidia callosa var. strigillosa) fruit samples from North Sikkim district of Sikkim state of Northeast India resulted in the identification of six promising female accessions, viz. SKNLA-11, SKNBC-01, SKNBC-02, SKNLC-02, SKNLC-07, and SKNZM-02. These selections exhibited significant variation in performance across desirable horticultural traits. Morphological parameters, including fruit weight (3.69–6.33 g), length (18.76- 26.71 mm), diameter (16.26- 19.76 mm), size (length × diameter) (342.56- 495.20 mm2), length-to-diameter ratio (1.03–1.57), stalk length (13.31–18.56 mm), and fruit yield (2.50- 8.50 Kg/vine), were assessed. Biochemical characteristics such as total soluble solids (17.20 −17.76 °B), titratable acidity (0.84–1.19%), total sugars (9.52–10.60%), reducing sugars (7.14–8.30%), non-reducing sugars (1.87–2.68%), sugar-acid ratio (8.26–11.33), ascorbic acid (31.20–41.60 mg/100g), and total phenols (33.31–94.88 mg GAE/100g) were examined. Sensory evaluation was carried out by a panel of judges, rating flavour (6.00–8.00), texture (5.40–8.20), aroma (5.80–8.50), taste (6.00–8.00) and overall acceptability (5.90–7.88) on a scale of 1 to 9. Notably, SKNBC-01, SKNLC-02, and SKNBC-02 excelled in overall acceptability. These selected accessions displayed significant variation in bloom date, anticipated harvest date, and harvesting period (in days).