Characterization and evaluation of Mandarin (Citrus reticulata) and Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis) cultivars in sub- tropical conditions of Himachal Pradesh
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Date
2021-12-04
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College of Horticulture and Forestry Neri, Hamirpur (H.P.)
Abstract
The investigatyon entitled "Characterization und evaluation of Mandarin (Citray reticulata) and Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis) cultivars in sub-tropical conditions of Himachal Pradesh” was carried out at the Experimental Farm and laboratory of Department of Fruit Science, College of Horticulture and Forestry, Neri, Hamirpur (H.P.) during the years 2019-2021. Significant variations were observed among seven cultivars of citrus for various qualitative and quantitative traits. In variability study, the maximum phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) and genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) was found in fruit yield per tree followed by average number of seeds per fruit. High heritability (>60 %) was recorded for all the characters except for leaf lamina width, total sugars, seed width, reducing sugars and non-reducing sugars. High genetic gain was recorded for leaf lamina length, average number of seeds per fruit, fruit number per tree and fruit rind (mesocarp) thickness. In correlation studies, fruit yield per tree had highly positive and significant correlation with ratio of leaf lamina length and width, width of epicarp at equatorial area, juice content, number of seeds per fruit, seed length, fruit weight. fruit diameter and number of fruits per tree at genotypic and phenotypic level. Also, the path coefficient analysis showed that the ratio of soluble solids to titratable acidity had maximum positive direct effect on fruit yield per tree followed by titratable acidity and number of fruits per tree, Principal component analysis (PCA) gave first five principal components which contributed 95.55 % of the total variability. At molecular level, genetic diversity among the citrus cultivars was estimated by 44 RAPD markers. Only 19 primers out of 44 were able to amplify the DNA and yielded 74 scorable bands in all seven cultivars out of which 57 Were polymorphic and accounted for about 77.03 % of total polymorphism. RAPD cluster analysis showed that the cultivar Kinnow and Mosambi were the most divergent while, the cultivar Blood Red Malta and Jaffa were the most similar. On the basis of organoleptic evaluation and numerical scoring for horticulturally important traits, the cultivar Kinnow was found to be the best among the mandarins while, in sweet orange cultivars, Mosambi was evaluated to be the best.