Fruit Development and Seed Physiological Maturity of Andaliman (Zanthoxylum acanthopodium DC.), A Wild Spice in North Sumatra, Indonesia

Abstract

Background and Objective: Andaliman (Zanthoxylum acanthopodium DC.) fruit has been reported to contain aromatic compounds with several biological functions. However, the botanical information regarding it is limited. The objective of this study was to describe the fruit morphology and observe the fruit development of Zanthoxylum acanthopodium along with the pattern of seed development and the physiological maturity of its seeds. Materials and Methods: In the first study, fruit development was observed weekly from anthesis to fruit rupture. The second one was seed phenology from 18-29 weeks after anthesis which presented as a graph of the development of seed dry weight. Third, the experiment was designed as a non-factorial block randomized design to investigate the effect of seed maturity on germination. The mean values obtained for the stages of fruit maturity were compared by the least significance difference (LSD) test at 0.05. Results: The fruit and seed description of andaliman were as follows: Apocarpous, one flower developed into 1-4 fruits, small fruits, follicle, 1 or 2 seeds in one fruit, small seeds, thick seed coat, the fruit turned from green to red, seed coat changed from white to shiny black. The result showed that andaliman seed physiological maturity was achieved 28 weeks after anthesis with morphological criteria: Red exocarp and shiny black testa, and with germination capacity was 53.75% and a growth rate of 0.94%/etmal. Conclusion: The harvesting age of andaliman fruit at 28 weeks after anthesis produced good quality seeds for propagation.