Fruiting characteristics of jalpai-the Indian olive (Elaeocarpus floribundus Blume.)

Abstract

Indian Olive (Elaeocarpus floribundus Blume.) belongs to the family of Elaeocarpaceae is popularly known as “Jalpai” in the northern parts of West Bengal. It is a less exploited, underutilized fruit crop of this locality. Indian olive fruits are utilized for preparation of chutney, making pickles and other culinary purposes. Different species of Elaeocarpus have some medicinal properties also. Flowers appear during the summer months (April to May) and fruits are harvested during August to October. Fruits are greenish, single seeded, drupe and the edible portion of the fruit is the mesocarp around the seeds. To know the fruiting characteristic of Indian Olive, a survey was made during 2012 and the result shows that the fruit weight, length, breadth was varied from 15.78 to 22.46 g, 4.07 to 4.49 cm and 2.62 to 2.89 cm, respectively. Among the bio-chemical properties the TSS, ascorbic acid content of different accessions varied from 8.20 to 11.33Obrix and 12.65 to 18.72 mg/100g of fruit pulp.