Physico-chemical characteristics of wild pomegranate fruits in different locations of Himachal Pradesh
Abstract
Wild pomegranate is not a cultivated fruit but found in wild form in certain pockets of six districts of HP viz Shimla, Sirmour, Solan, Mandi, Kullu and Chamba. Present studies were carried out to study the quality characteristics of this fruit in different locations of these districts where it is available in abundance in forests, wasteland, bunds and pastures. Among the physical characteristics, fruit size and weight and number of arils in fruits were found to be highest at Bathri in Chamba district closely followed by Narag in Sirmour distirct. The visual colour of mature fruits from all six locations was found to be yellowish green, whereas, the colour of arils was observed as red purple in all the locations with slight variations in the intensity. However, maximum aril:pomace ratio was observed at Basantpur (Shimla), Largi (Kullu) and Alsindi (Mandi). Among the chemical characteristics of the fruits no specific trend was observed at any particular location that means no single parameter was found dominating at multiple locations.
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ISSN: 2229-3744 Print; 2250-0499 Online