Variations in horticultural characteristics in Garcinia gummi-gutta (L.) N. Robson: a cash crop of the humid tropics of India

Malabar tamarind (Garcinia gummi-gutta (L.) N. Robson) is an important horticultural genetic resource having multifaceted uses and is being used as a flavouring agent besides being source of gamboge, seed fat and medicine in the humid tropics. Considering the increasing demand, reducing dependance on wild/ semi-wild population and promotion of cultivation is the need of the hour. Seedling progenies are known to have considerable variability of commercial significance. To identify the superior germplasm with desirable traits, systematic efforts are required. Though such screening from natural population could help in identifying superior genotypes, the data on various yield related traits could be misleading due to differences in the growing conditions of the natural stands. In the present study, the conserved germplasm was evaluated to understand the variations for leaf, fruit and seed morphological parameters apart from their harvesting patterns, yield traits, drying recovery etc. Results revealed that collections showed significant variations for these parameters and unique types viz. GG-05 with early harvesting season (late April onwards), thin peel (5.55 mm), longer pedicel (6.05 mm), and GG-04 with higher yield traits were identified. Further, collections UUF-01 and UUF-03 exhibited irregularity in bearing.