Variability for seed oil content and seedling traits in Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre

Abstract

Twenty three CPTs (Candidate Plus Trees) of Pongamia pinnata were selected from different agro-climatic conditions of Haryana state of India and were assessed to identify the elite planting material for improvement of the species in terms of oil content. The differences among CPTs of P. pinnata were significant for seed oil content and all growth parameters of the progenies of these CPTs at the seedling stage. Oil content in P. pinnata varied from 27.07 (P12) to 38.17% (P2). The estimates of genotypic coefficients of variation for the characters studied were less as compared to the phenotypic coefficients of variation for all the characters examined. The highest phenotypic coefficient of variation (49.33) and genotypic coefficient of variation (28.56) was recorded for the germination percentage followed by height of the first branch. Number of leaves (0.5551**), inter-nodal length (0.5580**) and number of branches (0.6182**) showed high and positive correlation with the seed oil content. The progeny number 9, 21 and 2 were found to be the best on basis of oil content (36. 37, 36.83 and 38.17 %, respectively), and other characters examined. D 2 analysis grouped the CPTs into 5 clusters. The highest numbers of progenies were included in the cluster I followed by cluster III and least number of progenies i.e., two were observed in cluster II. The intra cluster distances ranged from 4.12 (cluster V) to 5.96 (cluster II). The maximum inter-cluster distance was observed between cluster II and III (10.02) followed by I and III and minimum was between clusters I and cluster V. The crosses between clusters II and III may result sufficient segregation for further improvement of the species. Therefore, the progenies belonging to the clusters II and III could be taken as parents for a successful hybridization program.

Selection and evaluation of superior planting materials of Ailanthus triphysa (Dennst.) in Thrissur district, Kerala

“…Significant variations reported for all morphological and biomass traits. Similar variations was found by Kumar et al (2007) [16] in Pongamia pinnata, Liu (2002) [17] in Camptotheca acuminate. [13] in Grewia optiva, Goel et al (1997) [10] in Prosopis juliflora, Manga and Sen (1998) [18] in Prosopis cineraria, Ginwal et al (1995) [9] in Acacia nilotica, Thakur and Thakur (2015) [22] in Melia azedarach, Gunaga et al…”

A critical review of Pongamia pinnata multiple applications: From land remediation and carbon sequestration to socioeconomic benefits

“…Many studies have examined the suitability of Pongamia oil as a source of biofuel (Bala et al, 2011;Bobade and Khyade, 2012;Cox et al, 2014;Fu et al, 2021;Karmee and Chadha, 2005;Khayoon et al, 2012;Meher et al, 2006;Raheman and Phadatare, 2004;Sahu et al, 2011;Scott et al, 2008;Sharma and Singh, 2008). Oil content varies between 15 and 45% depending on the provenance and in terms of oil content, elite trees are selected on the basis of ~40% (Arpiwi et al, 2017;Fu et al, 2021;Kesari et al, 2008;Kumar and Kaushik, 2015;Mukta et al, 2009;Patel and Sankhavara, 2017;Wylie et al, 2021). The presence of toxic flavonoids means Pongamia oil is not fit for human consumption (Meher et al, 2006) so Pongamia has been classified as a second-generation biofuel which are produced from non-food crops thereby reducing competition with arable land.…”