Selection of Promising Candidate of Malabar Tamarind [Garcinia gummi-gutta (L.) Roxb.]- a Multipurpose Fruit Tree

Abstract

Garcinia gummi-gutta is valued for its dried fruit rind used as a souring agent in traditional cuisine and for the extraction of natural hydroxy citric acid (HCA) in the formulation of anti-obesity nutraceuticals. The species is widely distributed in Kerala State but is not yet an economically profitable crop in the region. Promising germplasm screening based on the fruit mass traits of 180 trees was performed leading to the selection of 35 candidates plus trees (CPTs) characterized by the fewest fruits to weigh 1 kg (i.e., the largest fruits) with two fruit bearing seasons. Fruit mass data of 35 CPTs showed significant (P < .001) variations and highest fresh fruit mass (1091.27 kg), and dry rind mass (48.18 kg) recorded in CPT 6 and is 40-fold higher mass than mean fruit mass (25.4 kg) of 180 trees. Multivariate analysis and web diagram-based ranking supported selection of CPT 6 as a promising candidate tree. In the tree improvement programs through nutraceutical enrichment, the superior germplasm selected (CPT 6) in the present study can use effectively.