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Descriptors for morphological and biochemical characterization of Bhela (Semecarpus anacardium L.): An underutilized plant of tropics

  • Notes on Neglected and Underutilized Crops
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Abstract

Semecarpus anacardium L. is a potential underutilized edible, highly nutritious fruit crop with ample medicinal properties grown in some localized pockets of India. Being a hardy crop, it can be easily used for climate resilient horticulture adaptation. But due to inadequate knowledge it is remains in underused position. Therefore the investigation was carried out to study the morphological and biochemical characteristics of the plant which will help in further improvement of the crop. The field investigation was carried out in the Minor Fruit Block under Fruit Research station of Mondouri following completely randomized design (CRD) with 4 (four) treatments and 5 (five) replications with growth trend and correlation co-efficient between morphological and weather parameters and the laboratory experiments was done in the Quality Control Laboratory, Faculty of Horticulture, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Nadia, West Bengal, India from 2015 to 2017. Positive correlation was observed in different vegetative characters with different weather parameters during first year whereas in second year negatively correlation was recorded with sunshine hours only. The vegetative growth almost ceased during winter season, slow to moderate growth during summer and rapid growth was noticed from rainy to autumn season during experimentation. Leaf chlorophyll content followed an increasing trend during April to November and whereas a decreasing trend from December-March. It bears only terminally in older shoot from May to June with very lower fruit set and retention yield. The ripened fruits of Bhela showed high (23.94 ºbrix) total soluble solids (Total Soluble Solids), total sugar, protein (21.08%), total carbohydrate, crude fat (34.91%) and food energy value (445.43 kcal/g). The observed performance of the crop with regards to plant morphology, growth rate and fruit quality was indicative for commercial exploitation in future.

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Availability of data and material

All the data analyzed during the study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable basis.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Department Fruit Science, B.C.K.V., Mohanpur, Nadia, West Bengal, India for all the laboratory analysis facility. Special thanks to Prof. F. K. Bauri for supporting the overall field investigation. We also thanks to Dr. Amarenda Nath Dey, Department of Forestry and Dr. Nilesh Bhowmick, Head, Department of Pomology and Post Harvest Technology, U.B.K.V., Pundibari, Cooch Behar, West Bengal, India for their inspiration, encouragement and support in selecting the underutilize crop species.

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The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work.

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Author notes

  1. Koyel Dey

    Present address: Department of Health and Family Welfare, Murshidabad Jiagang Block, Govt. of West Bengal, Jiaganj, India

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Fruit Science, Horticulture College, Birsa Agricultural University, Kanke, Ranchi, Jharkhand, 834006, India

    Arkendu Ghosh

  2. Department of Fruit Science, Faculty of Horticulture, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia, West Bengal, 741252, India

    Koyel Dey, Md. Abu Hassan, Fatik Kumar Bauri & Bikash Chandra Das

  3. Department of Pomology and Post Harvest Technology, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibai, Cooch Behar, West Bengal, 736165, India

    Nilesh Bhowmick

  4. Department of Forestry, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibai, Cooch Behar, West Bengal, 736165, India

    Amarendra Nath Dey

  5. Department of Agricultural Statistics & Computer Application, RAC, Birsa Agricultural University, Kanke, Ranchi, Jharkhand, 834006, India

    Soumitra Das

  6. Department of Agricultural Statistics, Faculty of Agriculture, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia, West Bengal, 741252, India

    Pradip Kumar Sahu

Authors
  1. Arkendu Ghosh
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Arkendu Ghosh, Koyel Dey, Amarendra Nath Dey, Nilesh Bhowmick; Formal analysis and investigation: Koyel Dey, Fatik Kumar Bauri, Bikash Chandra Das, Arkendu Ghosh; Writing original draft preparation: Arkendu Ghosh, Md. Abu Hassan, Koyel Dey; Writing—review and editing: Fatik Kumar Bauri, Koyel Dey, Md. Abu Hassan; Statistical Analysis: Dr. P K Sahu & Dr. S Das; Supervision: Bikash Chandra Das & Md. Abu Hassan.

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Correspondence to Arkendu Ghosh or Koyel Dey.

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Ghosh, A., Dey, K., Hassan, M. et al. Descriptors for morphological and biochemical characterization of Bhela (Semecarpus anacardium L.): An underutilized plant of tropics. Genet Resour Crop Evol 69, 2585–2604 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-022-01415-5

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