Impact of pollination levels on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of custard apple (Annona squamosa L.) fruits genotypes

Abstract

The present study was conducted at the Department of Horticulture, B. A. College of Agriculture, Anand Agricultural University, Anand, Gujarat, India, during the year 2023-24, using a Completely Randomized Design with a three-factorial concept, with three repetitions and nine treatment combinations of the two factors. Genotype (G1: Anand selection-1, G2: Sindhan, G3: Balanagar and Levels of pollen grain (P1: Natural pollination, P2: Hand pollination with 100% pollen grain and P3: Hand pollination with 40% pollen grain + 60% corn starch). The treatments were repeated three times. Among different genotypes, Balanagar recorded significantly maximum number of fruit set (6.42), fruit length (7.81 cm), fruit volume (188.58 cc), pulp weight (86.00 g), lowest stone fruit (5.44 %), Lower seed weight (15.23 g) and number of seeds (46.10) was recorded with Anand selection-1 (G1) in pooled data. In quality parameters, TSS (23.90 °Brix) was recorded with Balanagar during the pooled analysis. Over two seasons, the Balanagar cultivar consistently showed superior fruit set, yield traits, and quality. Pollination method mattered as hand pollination with 100% pollen outperformed other treatments across most metrics, while natural pollination gave the lowest results.