Morphological Diversity of an Underutilized and Wild Edible Fruit (Cordia) Species in Three Districts of Bastar Region of Chhattisgarh, India

Abstract

The multipurpose deciduous tree Cordia dichotoma belongs to the family Boraginaceae and it is variously called as Glueberry, Goonda, Lasora and locally as ‘Bohaar’ in Bastar (Chhattisgarh). The diversity in morphological traits in Cordia species were marked and identified at different locations of three districts of Bastar region to assess phenotypic morphological variation and to estimate genotypic and phenotypic variability for various morphological traits of fruits for future use. The quantitative traits like fruit weight, length, and diameter are important quality traits in many horticultural crops are used in genetic diversity studies. The underutilized fruits are advantageous crops being hardy in nature and tolerate extreme climatic conditions and possess high potential to provide nutritional and social benefits. The present investigation is performed for the identification, morphological analysis and diversity exploration with respect to food value of underutilized and wild edible fruit Cordia dichotoma found in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. A Total of ten numbers of representative trees of Cordia species from each district were selected for morphological and silvicultural studies. It is found that genotype of Cordia has morphological variations in the region. Two species of Cordia i.e., Cordia obliqua and Cordia dichotoma were taken for the study. This study revealed that source/provenance Jagdalpur and Dantewada had Cordia species with better fruit size than district Kondagaon source, also morphological variations of Cordia species in different sources or provenance with respect to fruit fresh weight, pulp weight, peel weight, pulp and peel ratio revealed that Cordia dichotoma G. Forst has better fruit size and pulp percentage.