Wood apple (Limonia acidissima L.) is an underutilized, fruit-yielding tree that is native to India and Sri Lanka. Wood apple trees are also cultivated in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Kampuchea, Laos, and Indonesia for delicious fruits and medicinal purposes. The major objective of the present work was the analysis of the nutritional status of wood apple fruit pulp.The fruits are rich in total carbohydrates (24.74 ± 0.19%), total proteins (9.30 ± 0.16%), oil (0.99 ± 0.01%), fiber (3.32 ± 0.02%), and ash (2.73 ± 0.12%). Further analysis and quantification of free sugars, organic acids, and fatty acid methyl esters were carried out by using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatographic (GC) methods. In total, five sugars and nine organic acids were detected and quantified. The predominant sugars were fructose (16.40 ± 0.23%) and glucose (14.23 ± 0.10%), whereas the predominant organic acids were D-tartaric (4.01 ± 0.03%), ascorbic (4.51 ± 0.05%), and citric acid (4.27 ± 0.04%). The oil content of fruit pulp was 0.99 ± 0.01% and GC-MS analysis revealed that, it comprise of 16 fatty acid methyl esters. The percentage of saturated fatty acids were 32.17 ± 0.35%, that includes palmitic (18.52 ± 0.12%) and stearic acids (9.02 ± 0.08%), whereas, the unsaturated fatty acids were 51.98 ± 0.94%, including oleic acid (23.89 ± 0.06%), α-linolenic acid (16.55 ± 0.26%), linoleic acid (10.02 ± 0.43%), and vaccenic acid (1.78 ± 0.23%).

The present study was aimed at analyzing the fatty acid composition, tocopherols, and physico-chemical characterization of wood apple (Limonia acidissima L.) seed oil and the nutritional profile of seed cake. The fatty acids in seed oil were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and the total seed oil was 32.02 ± 0.08%, comprising oleic (21.56 ± 0.57%), alpha-linolenic (16.28 ± 0.29%), and linoleic acid (10.02 ± 0.43%), whereas saturated fatty acid content was 33.38 ± 0.60% including palmitic (17.68 ± 0.65%) and stearic acid (14.15 ± 0.27%). A greater amount of unsaturated fatty acids (52.37%) were noticed compared to saturated fatty acids (33.38%); hence the seed is highly suitable for nutritional and industrial applications. Gamma-tocopherol was present in a higher quantity (39.27 ± 0.07 mg/100 g) as compared to alpha (12.64 ± 0.01 mg/100 g) and delta (3.77 ± 0.00 mg/100 g) tocopherols, which are considered as natural antioxidants. The spectrophotometric technique was used for quantitative analysis of total phenolic content, and it revealed 135.42 ± 1.47 mg gallic acid equivalent /100 g DW in seed cake. All the results of the studied seed oil and cake showed a good source of natural functional ingredients for several health benefits.

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Wood apple (Limonia acidissima L.) is an undomesticated nutritionally and medicinally potential monotypic tree species of the genus Limonia, which belongs to the family Rutaceae. This species is remained underexploited due to a lack of awareness regarding its significance and systematic study of its diversity. The present work was carried out to recognize the elite populations for future cultivation among the studied populations of South India. Considering a wide genetic diversity in wood apples, 32 populations were assessed by the prepared set of qualitative and quantitative traits presented in this study. The tree height ranges between 7.68 to 16.69 m, canopy area was 18.78 to 36.36 m3 whereas, the weight of the fruits ranges between 118.30 to 233.42 g, the percentage composition of pulp was 53.91 to 72.93% and the percentage composition of seed was 4.02 to 9.07%. The tree with medium height with an average of 11.13 m and having average stem girth of 2.62 m showed large-sized fruits with an average weight of 233.43 g and an average percentage of 65.04% of pulp (TN-03). The obtained results were subjected to multivariate statistical analysis, using the techniques of principal component analysis and cluster analysis, and were formed into 4 clusters. The formation of different clusters shows the genetic variability and the dissimilarity among the genotypes which could guide the selection of elite genotypes to enrich the programs of genetic improvement of the wood apple. Out of 4 cluster groups, cluster 1 and cluster 2 could be used for domestication programs because they showed superior fruit-related traits by having the highest fruit, pulp, and seed weight even though they have average morphology of trees.