Vikas Kumar, Ajeesh R., Vidyasagaran K. and Sreejith Babu
Abstract
Present investigation was carried out to assess the variation in seed attributes and pulp content of Elaeocarpus serratus from different seed sources. The fruits were obtained from different parts of Kerala, natural forest (Peechi-Vazhani Wildlife Sanctuary), Orchard (Kerala Agricultural University, main campus), home gardens (Neyyattinkara Municipality in the Thiruvananthapuram District) during June, 2013 to May, 2014. Prominent size variation was observed in among the fruits of different seed sources. Individual fruit pulp content (g) was 6.22, 4.84 and 3.85 for natural forest, orchard and home gardens respectively. Individual seed characters like length, breadth and volume also recorded higher value in natural forest compared with orchard and Home gardens. The edible percentage in different seed source was at on par with each other. Hence, the natural seed sources can be advocated for the value addition and planting stock production in the nursery followed by orchard and home gardens fruits can be discarded.