Sameer Verma, Bhanu Pratap, Hemant Kumar Singh, Atul Yadav, Hitesh Kumar, Sushil Kumar Yadav, Vipin Kumar and Joyshree Kharibam
Abstract
A study was conducted to evaluate the growth and fruit morphological characteristics of 12 aonla (Phyllanthus emblica L.) germplasm, namely NA-4, NA-5, NA-6, NA-7, NA-10, NA-20, NA-25, NA-26, BSR-1, Chakaiya, CHES-1 and Anand, under similar agro-climatic conditions. Significant variations were observed among the germplasm for all vegetative and fruit morphological traits except the number of seeds per fruit. Germplasm T8-NA-26 recorded the maximum plant height (8.16 m), trunk girth (0.93 m), EastâWest trunk spread (10.52 m) and plant volume (353.13 m³), indicating superior vegetative vigour. In terms of fruit morphology, T7-NA-25 and T6-NA-20 produced the highest fruit weight (65.31 g and 63.96 g, respectively), whereas T9-BSR recorded the lowest fruit weight (11.26 g) along with the minimum stone weight (0.60 g), suggesting that the reduced stone weight was primarily associated with its comparatively smaller fruit size rather than representing a desirable processing trait. The number of seeds per fruit remained uniform (six) across all germplasm and did not differ significantly. Overall, NA-26 emerged as the most promising genotype for vegetative growth, while NA-25 and NA-20 was superior for fruit morphological characteristics. These germplasms may therefore be considered valuable genetic resources for varietal improvement and commercial cultivation under the subtropical conditions of eastern Uttar Pradesh.