ABSTRACT

Garcinia dhanikhariensis is an endemic tropical species distributed in the Bay Islands, India. The species has been found to be of horticultural significance owing to its edible fruits and potential as natural colorant. Being an endemic species, identifying the potential uses and standardization of nursery techniques of G. dhanikhariensis could be helpful in conserving and popularizing it. The present investigation aimed at determining fatty acid composition of seed fat using GC-MS and standardization of seed germination technique for mass multiplication. Results revealed that seeds had higher saturated fatty acids, dominant being stearic acid (43.62%) and oleic acid (42.40%). Among the pretreatments studied, soaking of seeds in potassium nitrate (0.1%) or gibberellic acid (500 mg/L) was recommended based on superior germination percentage and seedling growth parameters. The effect of seed source on germination characteristics was also studied, which revealed considerable variability among the collections. Regenerated seedlings were successfully transplanted without any mortality. Thus, seeds of G. dhanikhariensis were found to be novel sources of industrially important stearic acid and oleic acid. Nursery protocol discussed here would be useful for mass multiplication of this novel fruit species.

摘要

Garcinia dhanikhariensis是一种热带特有种，分布于印度湾群岛。由于其可食用的果实和作为天然着色剂的潜力，该物种已被发现具有园艺意义。作为特有物种，确定G. dhanikhariensis苗圃技术的潜在用途和标准化可能有助于保护和普及它。本研究旨在使用 GC-MS 确定种子脂肪的脂肪酸组成，并标准化种子发芽技术以进行质量增殖。结果表明，种子含有较高的饱和脂肪酸，主要是硬脂酸（43.62%）和油酸（42.40%）。在研究的预处理中，基于优异的发芽率和幼苗生长参数，建议将种子浸泡在硝酸钾 (0.1%) 或赤霉酸 (500 mg/L) 中。还研究了种子来源对发芽特性的影响，这揭示了收集之间相当大的差异。再生苗成功移植，没有任何死亡。因此，G. dhanikhariensis 的种子被发现是工业上重要的硬脂酸和油酸的新来源。这里讨论的苗圃协议将有助于这种新型水果物种的大规模繁殖。