Domestication potential of Marula (Sclerocarya birrea subsp caffra)in South Africa and Namibia: 1. Phenotypic variation in fruit traits |
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Authors: | Email author" target="_blank">Roger?LeakeyEmail author Sheona?Shackleton Pierre?du?Plessis |
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Institution: | (1) Agroforestry and Novel Crops Unit, School of Tropical Biology, James Cook University, PO Box 6811, Cairns, Australia, QLD, 4870;(2) Department of Environmental Science, Rhodes University, PO Box 94, Grahamstown, South Africa;(3) CRIAA SA-DC, PO Box 23778, Windhoek, Namibia |
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Abstract: | Studies of tree-to-tree variation in fruit traits are a pre-requisite for cultivar development. Fruits were collected from
each of 63 marula (Sclerocarya birrea) trees in Bushbuckridge, South Africa and from 55 trees from the North Central Region
of Namibia. The South African trees were in farmers fields, communal land and natural woodland, at three sites: Acornhoek
road, Allandale/Green Valley and Andover/Wits Rural Facility. The Namibian trees were all from farmers fields in three areas:
North east, North west and West. The fruits were partitioned into skin and flesh/juice to examine the extent of the variation
found in different components of marula fruits from different trees. Namibian fruits were significantly larger than those
from South Africa (26.7 vs 20.1 g), due to their greater pulp mass (22.2 vs 16.2 g), especially the flesh/juice component.
In South African fruits, those from farmers fields were significantly larger in all components (Fruit mass = 23.6 vs 19.3
and 18.0 g in natural woodland and communal land respectively). In Namibia, mean fruit mass did not differ significantly across
sites (25.5 − 27.0 g). However, within each sample there was highly significant and continuous variation between trees in
the pulp (S Africa = 7.5 − 31.3 g; Namibia = 8.3 − 36.0 g) and flesh/juice mass (S Africa = 2.2 − 7.6g; Namibia = 3.8 − 22.
6g), indicating the potential for selection of trees producing superior products. The fruits of the Namibian trees were compared
with the fruits from one superior tree (‘Namibian Wonder) with a mean fruit mass of 69.9 g The percentage frequency distribution
of fruit mass from trees in farmers fields in South Africa was skewed, while being bimodal in North east and North west populations
from Namibia, suggesting that at these sites farmers are engaged in domestication through truncated selection of the best
mother trees. It is concluded that there are trees in on-farm populations that have great potential to be propagated vegetatively
as selected cultivars. |
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Keywords: | Agroforestry Agroforestry tree products (AFTPs) Cultivar development Tree improvement |
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