Abstract

Bael (Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr.) is an endangered medicinal tree which is mostly propagated through seeds. Seed is the basic unit of mass multiplication and require quality characters, namely, germination and vigour. Seed quality is guaranteed through the adoption on proper post-harvest seed handling techniques. In perennial crops, selection of fruits is an important management techniques adopted after fruit harvest as it plays an important role in production of high quality seedlings in nursery. Hence, studies were formulated to evaluate the influence of fruit colour variation on seed quality characters. Fresh bael fruits were collected from Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, India. The fruits were categorized based on the colour into three different groups as green, greenish yellow and yellow. The recovery of yellow and greenish yellow fruits were 41 and 33%, respectively from bulk. Evaluation of physiological quality characters after extraction revealed that germination of seeds from yellow fruits were higher (86%) followed by seeds from greenish yellow (74%), bulk (66%) and green fruits (52%). The seedling vigour measured through root (7.5 cm) and shoot length (10.2 cm), dry matter production (294 mg) and vigour index (1522) also exposed the superiority of seeds from yellow fruits. The evaluation of biochemical characters such as oil content (38.9%) and seed protein (18.2%) were higher, while the electrical conductivity (0.221) was lower with seeds of yellow fruits than other coloured fruits. The seeds sown in polybag nursery also expressed that seeds of yellow fruits produced vigorous seedlings.

Key words: Bael, fruit colour, seed quality, oil and protein content, nursery.