Morphological variation of bael fruits (<em>Aegle marmelos</em> (L.) Corrêa) among five accessions in three different agro-ecological regions of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Bael fruit pulp possesses delicious taste with pleasing aroma and exhibit important pharmacological attributes such as hepato-protective and anti-cancerous properties. Although, bael is popular among the general public, it is considered as an underutilized fruit species in Sri Lanka. The Fruit Research and Development Institute of Sri Lanka has identified five superior bael Accessions (Beheth Beli, Paragammana, Mawanella, Rambukkana and Polonnaruwa Supun) from diverse agro-ecological zones. In the present study, morphological diversity of the ripened fruits harvested from the five selected bael Accessions was investigated in three fruiting seasons in 2015-2017. The fruit weight, length, width, inner diameter, number of seeds, shell thickness, fruit color according to Munsell Color Chart, L*, a*, b*, Chroma and Hue angle were measured and the data were statistically analyzed. The mean fruit weight was significantly high in Polonnaruwa Supun (951.86 g) followed by Rambukkana (669.14 g) and Mawanella (310.70 g) (p<0.05). The accessions Beheth Beli and Paragammana had the lowest fruit sizes 138.29 g and 158.09 g, respectively (p<0.05). Mean number of seeds were lowest in Polonnaruwa Supun (20 per fruit) and highest in the accessions Mawanella (60.33) and Rambukkana (60 per fruit) (p<0.05). The growing season has no effect either on size of fruits or number of seeds present. Three clear clusters could be identified based on fruit size, in which Polonnaruwa Supun and Rambukkana with 83.2% similarity clustered together and Beheth Beli and Paragammana with 94.4% similarity clustered together. The accession Mawanella was separated from the rest. The shell colour was not variable among the five accessions however; flesh colour of Rambukkana was the darkest with the highest significant Chroma. The accession Polonnaruwa Supun could be considered as the best fruit type with the largest fruit size, least number of miniature seeds and appealing flesh colour for consumption as a fresh fruit, while Rambukkana fruits can be considered as the best for processing due to its flesh colour.

Keywords

• bael accessions, flesh colour, fruit colour, fruit morphology of bael, underutilized fruits