Morphological Characterization of Mango (Mangifera indica L.) Cultivars

Author: Durgam Sridhar*, Bikash Ghosh, Arpita Das and Krishnendu Pramanik

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Abstract

Plant, leaf, inflorescence, fruit, stone and seed characteristics of 16 mango cultivars were studied from 2016 to 2018 at All India Coordinated Research Project on Fruits at Regional Research Station, Gayeshpur, West Bengal. Utilization of the conserved germplasm in the breeding program requires precise information on the genetic relationships among the cultivars. Therefore, an attempt was made to study morphological characterization in mango. All the morphological observations were taken as per the IPGRI descriptors for mango. Observations were recorded on various morphological parameters like qualitative and quantitative characters. The wide variation was observed in crown shape, colour of young leaf, leaf blade length and width, regularity of flowering, inflorescence colour, length and width, pulp colour, and texture. Maximum inflorescence length (45.50 cm) and width (31.74 cm) were found in Kamala Bhog. The highest stone weight and seed weight were observed in Gopi Bhog (46.40 g)

Keywords

Mango, Qualitative, Characterization, Variation, Improvement

Conclusion

The study on morphological characterization of mango cultivars showed that there have variations among the cultivars. It helps to select cultivars based on desirable characters. Many efforts were made to understand the variability of mango germplasm and cultivars identification. Earlier, morphological characteristics were used to establish and identify cultivars and the simplest and easiest way and are considered the first step for evaluating the genetic diversity. The actual identity of some cultivars is still unclear because some of these characteristics differed from year to year as affected by environmental conditions and agricultural practices. Therefore, there is a great need to identify mango cultivars at the molecular level. Unlike the agronomic and morphologic characteristics, the molecular markers are not subject to the environmental effect.

References

INTRODUCTION Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is one of the choicest and most admired fruit crops of the tropical and subtropical areas of the world (Joshi et al., 2013). Its significance can easily be recognized by the fact that it is known as ‘King of Fruits’. The utilization of germplasm with distinctive characteristics in breeding programs desires precise information to develop new cultivars (Vasugi et al., 2012). India is the centre of origin for cultivated mango and is distributed in tropical and subtropical regions. Mango has been cultivated in India for more than 4000 years. Mango is native to India and occurs abundantly in forests and cultivated areas. Hence, it is difficult to differentiate true wild forms from cultivated ones. The cross-pollination nature and a wide range of prevailing agro-climatic conditions have contributed to its wide genetic diversity in India (Mukherjee, 1972). Morphological data are imperative in preliminary germplasm evaluation as they consist of tr

How to cite this article

Durgam Sridhar, Bikash Ghosh, Arpita Das and Krishnendu Pramanik (2022). Morphological characterization of Mango (Mangifera indica L.) Cultivars. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 14(1): 1676-1682.