STUDIES ON VARIABILITY AMONG BEST SELECTED GENOTYPES OF JAMUN (SYZYGIUM CUMINI SKEELS.)

A survey was conducted to assess the variability of quality characters among best selected jamun genotypes from seedling trees located in Gokak taluk of Belgaum district of Karnataka and Sawantwadi of Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra. Observations on physiochemical characters of the fruits are recorded. A total number of 30 best genotypes among selected genotypes were taken for study from the above mentioned area. Morphological characters, i.e., physio-chemical characters varied considerably among these genotypes. Among the physical parameters, the fruit weight ranged between 13.45 g in genotype KJS-4 to 5.27 g in genotype KJS-24. The longest fruit was of KJS-8 (4.49 cm) and shortest of KJS-30 (2.70 cm). The genotype KJS-4 and KJS-9 had the highest pulp weight (11.47 g) and highest pulp content (87.35%) respectively, while the genotype KJS-15 had lowest pulp weight (3.56 g) and pulp content (60.23%). The average pulp weight and pulp content were 8.35 g and 81.50 per cent respectively. The fruit with minimum seed weight was recorded in the genotype KJS-9 (1.34 g), while the highest seed weight was recorded in the genotype KJS-2 (2.08 g). The maximum pulp to seed ratio was 6.91 and minimum pulp to seed ratio was 2.08 in the genotypes KJS-9 and KJS-24 respectively. Fruit with maximum volume was in the genotype KJS-3 (13 cc) and minimum fruit volume in the genotype KJS-24 (5 cc).

Among the chemical parameters the maximum TSS was recorded in the genotype KJS-3 (21.2%), while strain KJS-29 recorded minimum TSS (21.2%). The genotypes KJS-18 and KJS-17 registered the highest value of anthocyanin (1.393 ppm) and total sugar (18.43%) while the lowest values were in KJS-1 (0.162 ppm) and KJS-22 (8.24%) respectively. The study indicates large variability among genotypes.