Morphological Characterization of Annona (Annona spp.) Genotypes

Abstract

India is endowed with diverse agro-climatic conditions, allowing the cultivation of a wide range of tropical, subtropical and temperate fruit crops. The growing global demand for fruits has brought Annona species, once considered underutilized, into the spotlight. This surge in popularity can be attributed to their distinctive flavors, nutritional benefits and potential health-promoting properties. The present study, entitled "Morphological characterization of Annona (Annona spp.) genotypes" was conducted during 2022–2024 at the College of Horticulture, Bengaluru, University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot. This study aimed to evaluate 11 Annona genotypes, selected through morphological and assessments. Traits such as fruit length, breadth, volume, and average fruit weight ranged from 6.76 to 23.00 cm, 6.50 to 13.31 cm, 110 to 783.33 ml, and 119.70 to 1708.30 g, with mean values of 9.77 cm, 8.26 cm, 311.51 ml, and 371.35 g, respectively. Similarly, pulp weight and pulp percentage varied from 25.80 to 998.23 g and 19.22 to 88.49%, with mean values of 198.24 g and 46.65%, respectively. Traits such as total number of seeds per fruit, seed weight, seed per cent, pulp to seed ratio, thickness of rind, the number of fruits per tree, fruit yield (kg/plant) and shelf life showed highly significant differences. Several morphological traits exhibited significant positive correlations. A slightly higher phenotypic coefficient of variation was found for all the characters compared to the corresponding genotypic coefficient of variation. Hierarchical cluster analysis divided the populations into five distinct clusters. The significant variations in plant traits among the genotypes offer great chances to select the best ones for genetic improvement programmes.