Blood fruit is a promising anti-oxidant rich underutilized fruit species with potential as a natural colourant for food, beverage and handicraft industries. The species has been used for fresh consumption, treating ailments and as a dyeing agent by local people including regional tribes in tropical Asian countries. However, at present, fruits are harvested from the wild and there is considerable scope for promoting their cultivation in homestead gardens. Owing to limited population of the species, seed germination studies were conducted. Treatment of seeds with thiourea (0.1%) or GA 3 (1000 mg/l) for 24 h was most congenial for obtaining healthy seedlings in large numbers. To extract chlorophylls and total carotenoids, dimethylsulphoxide was found to be a superior solvent over acetone (80%). Differences in fruit sizes were noticed in fruits grown in two states of India. These findings form the basis for conservation as well as domestication of this multipurpose fruit species in the tropical Asian countries.

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Plant based pigments have widely been used by human beings since ancient times. These pigments, being natural in origin, have better acceptability amongst the consumers and offer diversified applications worldwide. For identification of novel pigment sources, lesser known species need to be studied systematically. In the present report, a tropical fruit species viz. blood fruit was studied for its physicochemical parameters and anthocyanin content. Fruit pulp had total soluble solids of 17 °B with acidic pH (3.01) and total phenolic content of 13.44 mg GAE/ 100 g of fresh pulp. Pulp of fully ripe fruits contained 8.76 mg/g of total anthocyanins. Pelargonidin was the dominant anthocyanin, followed by Cyanidin, Peonidin and Petunidin. Considering these qualities, the species could be a potential candidate for food and dye industries.

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