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MORPHOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF LITCHI

CULTIVARS

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HortFlora Research Spectrum, 4(4): 361-365 (December 2015) ISSN : 2250-2823

MORPHOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF LITCHI

CULTIVARS
Jitendra Chandra Chandola* and D. S. Mishra
Department of Horticulture, GBPUA&T, Pantnagar-263 145 Uttarakhand
*E-mail: jitendraccm87@gmail.com
ABSTRACT : The investigation was conducted at Horticulture Research Centre, Patharchatta, Post-Harvest
Laboratory of the Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture and PG. Laboratory of the Department of
Environmental Science, College of Basic Science and Humanities, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and
Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand during June, 2011 to June, 2012. Experiment was conducted in
‘Randomized Block Design’ on 21 years old litchi trees of cultivars Rose Scented, Calcuttia, Late Seedless,
Early Seedless, Longia, Kasba, Mandraji, McLean, Dehradun and Shahi with three replications. The results
showed a significant variation in tree spread, cross trunk sectional area, leaf length, breadth, fresh and dry
weight of leaves, colour of newly emerging leaves, number of leaves per shoot, leaf area, length of
inflorescence, number of primary and secondary branches of inflorescence, total number of flowers, sex ratio,
fruit drop and retention, fruit yield, fresh and dry weight of aril, peel and seed, mean fruit weight, pulp content,
peel and seed content, fruit colour, shape, length, breadth, seed colour, seed shape, total soluble solids, total
titratable acidity, T.S.S. : acidity ratio, ascorbic acid, specific gravity among the litchi cultivars. However, tree
height, stem girth, tree volume and seed breadth did not differ significantly. The maximum zinc content of 0.77
mg/100g was recorded in Longia. Likewise the copper content not found in most of the litchi cultivars except in
Mandraji to the tune of 0.03 mg/100g. The maximum iron content of 4.45 mg/100g was recorded in cultivar
Late Seedless and the maximum magnesium content of 0.55 mg/100g was noted in cultivar Late Seedless.

Keywords : Litchi, morphological traits, chemical composition, mineral contents.

Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) is one of the most
important subtropical, evergreen fruit tree belonging to
family Sapindaceae and sub-family Nephelae. It is
native to South China and recognized as “Queen of the
fruits”. It is highly specific to its climatic requirements
and probably due to this reason its cultivation is
restricted to few countries in the world (Mishra et al., 6).
India is the second largest producer of litchi next to
China, the annual production of litchi in India is 585
thousand metric tonnes from an area of 84 thousand
hectares with productivity of 7.0 metric tonnes per
hectares (Anon., 1). It occupies 1.2 and 0.7 per cent
share in total area and production of fruits respectively
in the country. Bihar ranked first in area (31.28
thousand ha) and production (256.43 thousand metric
tonnes); however, maximum productivity (15.2 metric
tonnes per ha) was recorded in Punjab. Although
grown commercially in the Indo-Gangetic plains of
Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Its cultivation in
the Tarai region of Uttarakhand, Haryana and Himachal
Pradesh has increased over the last decade because
of the sub-tropical climate prevalent in different region
of these states. In Uttarakhand, annual production of
litchi is 19.16 thousand metric tonnes from an area of
9.49 thousand hectares and productivity is 2.0 metric
tonnes per hectares. The major litchi producing belt is
situated near Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital, Udham
Received : 22-11-2015 Accepted : 13-12-2015
Singh Nagar districts with minor production in
Pithoragarh and Pauri Garhwal. Considering the
importance of litchi in the Uttarakhand state efforts are
made to characterize the litchi cultivars for the
promotion of production and improved marketing
including export.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The present investigation were carried out during
the year June 2011 to June 2012 to describe various
morphological and biochemical characteristics of litchi
(Litchi chinensis Sonn.) cultivars i.e., Rose Scented,
Calcuttia, Late Seedless, Early Seedless, Longia,
Kasba, Mandraji, McLean, Dehradun and Shahi
available at Horticulture Research Centre,
Patharchatta, Post-Harvest Laboratory of the
Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture and
PG Laboratory of the Department of Environmental
Science, College of Basic Science and Humanities,
G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology,
Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. Three trees of each cultivar,
uniform in size and vigour were selected for the study
and observations were recorded on the morphological
and biochemical characteristics of each cultivar as
mentioned (Table 1 to 5). Tree height and canopy
362 Chandola and Mishra HortFlora Res. Spectrum, 4(4) : December 2015

spread were recorded by measuring height and width trees. Leaf length, width, shape, orientation, number of
of each experimental tree. Tree shape, foliage texture leaflets per leaf, number of leaves per flush and flush
and colour were recorded by visual observation of the colour was studied by taking three leaves and flushes
Table 1: Vegetative growth characters of different litchi cultivars.
Germplasm Plant Spread (m) Stem girth Tree Leaf characters
height (cm) volume
(m) (m3) Shape Colour of Length Breadth Length:brea
newly (mm) (mm) dth
emerging
leaves
Rose scented 3.24 3.07 37.80 17.14 Elliptic Dark pink 150.79 49.20 3.06
oblong
Calcuttia 2.68 3.12 33.62 15.10 Elliptic Brownish 154.71 45.99 3.36
oblong red
Late Seedless 2.73 3.47 40.60 19.78 Elliptic Reddish 136.76 44.86 3.05
oval brown
Early Seedless 3.11 3.92 35.98 26.00 Elliptic Brownish 141.03 42.40 3.33
oval red
Longia 3.16 3.77 38.63 22.70 Oval Reddish 146.34 47.00 3.11
oblong brown
Kasba 3.00 3.52 36.16 18.86 Elliptic Dark pink 147.26 48.43 3.04
oblong
Mandraji 2.47 2.70 32.71 10.63 Elliptic Brownish 154.71 42.4 3.648
oblong red
McLean 3.03 3.19 33.03 15.60 Elliptic Brownish 142.23 44.61 3.19
oblong red
Dehradun 3.50 3.27 37.80 18.42 Elliptic Reddish 140.67 37.38 3.76
oblong brown
Shahi 3.13 3.10 35.81 20.59 Elliptic Reddish 149.86 45.91 3.16
oblong brown
CD (P=0.05) 0.05 1.04 3.21 1.22 - - 34.00 8.53 -

Table 2: Foliage and reproductive characters of different litchi cultivars.

Cultivars Fresh Dry No. of Leaf Length Inflorescence Total No. No. of No. of Sex ratio
weight weight of leaves/ area of of male female
of leaves 2 No. of No. of flowers flowers
shoot (cm ) infloresc primary secondar flowers
leaves (g) ence branches y
(g) branches
Rose Scented 0.80 0.27 36.18 177.04 34.80 2.87 14.56 1056 742 314 2.36

Calcuttia 0.75 0.17 33.32 162.02 19.12 3.57 13.10 1296.33 716.33 580 1.23

Late Seedless 0.88 0.37 35.05 163.39 13.67 1.70 10.77 580.66 293 283 2.09

Early Seedless 0.59 0.24 35.50 174.45 14.80 1.41 10.85 620.33 466 155 2.53

Longia 0.91 0.24 32.79 149.43 19.50 2.15 11.57 885 664.33 220.66 3.00

Kasba 0.79 0.48 26.57 128.98 30.75 3.15 11.85 1146.33 730 416.33 1.75

Mandraji 0.69 0.41 29.99 122.37 14.43 2.41 13.80 832 587.33 244.66 2.39

McLean 0.78 0.35 27.56 154.93 25.05 3.16 12.47 890.33 656.33 216.00 3.11

Dehradun 0.82 0.58 22.67 137.01 27.00 2.74 11.63 1024 806.33 217.66 3.69

Shahi 0.78 0.47 31.84 151.43 29.4 2.58 12.83 1021 803 218 3.09

CD (P=0.05) 0.30 0.24 0.26 0.25 0.35 0.10 0.12 231.77 149.76 104.93 0.005
 Morphological and Biochemical Characterization of Litchi Cultivars 363

Table 3: Yield and yield attributing characters of different litchi cultivars.

Cultivars Fruit drop Fruit Yield/tree Total fruit Aril Peel Seed Dry Dry Dry
(%) retention (kg) weight (g) weight (g) weight weight (g) weight of weight of weight of
(%) (g) aril (g) peel (g) seed (g)
Rose Scented 83.31 16.20 26.85 21.8 14 3.8 4.2 1.717 0.86 1.72

Calcuttia 85.20 14.76 23.23 16 10 3 4 1.270 0.81 1.46

Late Seedless 87.13 12.67 15.95 17.97 13.67 3.15 2.2 2.079 1.20 0.09

Early Seedless 84.40 14.99 14.50 17.83 13.83 3.26 2.87 1.830 0.98 0.24
Longia 87.92 11.60 12.57 13 8.2 2 2.2 1.270 0.71 1.21
Kasba 86.20 12.90 13.10 19 13 2.4 3.8 1.580 0.752 1.89

Mandraji 87.30 12.50 16.40 12 7 1.8 2.4 1.387 0.77 1.51

McLean 87.00 12.69 18.50 15 10.2 2.2 1.6 1.790 0.71 1.63

Dehradun 90.57 9.50 21.75 18 12 2.2 3 1.573 0.73 1.53

Shahi 85.10 14.61 20.57 18.21 12.63 3.12 3.4 1.76 0.80 1.59

CD (P=0.05) 0.68 0.22 1.64 0.52 0.370 0.371 0.257 0.035 0.056 0.418

Table 4 : Fruit and seed characters of different litchi cultivrs.

Cultivar Fruit colour Fruit Fruit Fruit width Seed Seed Shape Seed length Seed width
shape length(mm) (mm) Colour (mm) (mm)

Rose scented Pinkish brown, Oval 36.13 31.30 Dark Elliptic oblong 24.63 14.00
red chocolate

Calcuttia Red Cordate 35.91 29.77 Light Elliptic oblong 28.95 14.78
chocolate

Late Seedless Deep Red Conical 34.87 31.87 Brown Elliptic oval 24.81 13.83

Early Seedless Pinkish red Conical 33.78 31.35 Dark brown Elliptic oval 24.23 13.36

Longia Brownish red Globose 30.03 27.04 Chocolate Elliptic oblong 19.30 11.56
colour

Kasba Reddish, light green Oval 34.91 31.62 Chocolate Elliptic oblong 23.91 12.64

Mandaraii Greenish orange Oval to 28.95 25.05 Chocolate Elliptic oblong 20.79 13.59
to pink oblong

McLean Deep pink with Oval 32.09 28.89 Chocolate Elliptic oblong 19.89 13.33
red tubercles

Dehradun Pinkish red Oblong 34.76 31.26 Chocolate Elliptic oblong 23.24 12.05
conical

Shahi Deep pink with Oval 34.56 31.13 Dark brown Elliptic oblong 24.21 13.61
red tubercles

CD (P=0.05) - - 0.33 3.31 - - 0.18 0.19

randomly from each cultivar. Panicle length was
recorded by measuring three panicles in each cultivar.
Fruit colour and size were recorded by taking three
fruits randomly from each cultivar. Specific gravity of
the fruit was determined by weighing the whole fruit first
in air and then in water. Total soluble solids (TSS) were
recorded by hand refractometer. Total acidity was
determined by titrating against 0.1N NaOH; the
ascorbic acid content of fruit was determined by using
2,6-dichlorophenol indophenole dye titration method.
Experiment was laid out according to the Randomized
Block Design (RBD). The experiment comprised of
nine treatments (cultivars) with three independent
observations (replications).
364 Chandola and Mishra HortFlora Res. Spectrum, 4(4) : December 2015

Table 5: Biochemical and mineral contents in fruits of different litchi cultivars.

Cultivar TSS (%) Acidity (%) Ascorbic TSS:Acidity Zinc Copper Iron Magnesium
acid (mg/100g) (mg/100g) (mg/100g) (mg/100g)
(mg/100gm)
Rose Scented 19.67 0.81 23.10 24.28 0.28 0.0 1.67 0.18
Calcuttia 19.35 0.59 29.20 32.79 0.11 0.0 0.99 0.27
Late Seedless 18.90 0.76 24.03 24.86 0.72 0.0 4.45 0.54
Early Seedless 17.96 0.73 23.89 24.60 0.48 0.0 3.76 0.29
Longia 19.02 0.68 18.10 27.97 0.77 0.0 3.49 0.39
Kasba 18.10 0.98 22.99 18.46 0.04 0.0 1.24 0.03
Mandaraji 16.39 0.49 19.81 33.44 0.38 0.03 2.73 0.24
Mclean 19.30 0.89 25.01 21.68 0.08 0.0 0.83 0.0
Deharadun 20.30 0.41 23.10 49.51 0.0 0.0 0.06 0.0
Shahi 19.51 0.79 23.91 24.69 0.28 0.0 0.03 0.08
CD (P=0.05) 0.33 2.02 3.36 0.16 - - - -

observations were made by Dixit et al. (5), Singh et al.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Different litchi cultivars varied significantly for
vegetative growth characters like tree height, spread,
stem girth and volume. Among the various litchi
cultivars tested, maximum height and spread of the
plants was observed in Dehradun and Early Seedless,
respectively. Similar variations were obtained in litchi
cultivars by Yadav et al. (10). A large number of
variations were existed for leaf shape and area, among
different litchi all cultivars under study, Leaf shape was
varied from elliptic oblong to elliptic oval. The colour,
fresh weight and dry weight of the newly emerging litchi
leaves also had a great variation among different
cultivars. The brownish red colour of new leaves was
observed in Calcuttia; whereas Late Seedless,
Dehradun, Shahi and Longia produced reddish brown
new leaves. The leaf dry weight was found maximum
in Dehradun and minimum in Calcuttia. The maximum
number of male flowers per panicle was found in
Dehradun, while it was found minimum in Late
Seedless. The minimum sex ratio was observed in
Calcuttia followed by Kasba. The minimum fruit drop
was recorded in Rose Scented followed by Calcuttia,
Early Seedless. The litchi cultivar Dehradun registered
least fruit set. The maximum fresh weight and dry
weight of aril was recorded in Late Seedless followed
by Early Seedless while fresh weight and dry weight of
aril was found minimum in Mandraji and Longia,
respectively (Dabral et al., 4; Singh et al., 9) Fruit yield
per tree was found highest in Rose Scented followed
by Calcuttia and Dehradun while minimum yield was
noted in Kasba followed by Longia. Similar
(8) and Singh and Mishra (7).
Fresh weight of aril was maximum in Late
Seedless followed by Early Seedless while minimum
fresh weight of aril was recorded with Mandraji followed
by Longia. Longia gave minimum fresh weight of peel
followed by Kasba, while maximum fresh weight of
seed was found in Early Seedless followed by Late
Seedless. Dry weight of aril and peel were recorded
maximum in Late Seedless while minimum dry weight
of aril and peel was in Longia followed by Calcuttia. Dry
weight of seed was found minimum in Late Seedless
followed by Early Seedless while maximum dry weight
of seed was observed in Kasba followed by Rose
Scented. There was a lot of variation in fruit colour and
shape existed among different litchi cultivars
understudy. The fruit colour varies from pinkish red
(Rose Scented, Dehradun, McLean and Early
Seedless) to tan red colour (Calcuttia and Late
Seedless). The shape of litchi cultivar was observed
oval (Rose Scented, Kasba and McLean) to conical
(Late Seedless and Early Seedless). The fruit weight
was found highest in Rose Scented followed by Dehra
Dun, while minimum fruit weight was recorded in
Longia followed by Late Seedless. The maximum pulp
content was found in Early Seedless followed by Late
Seedless. The minimum seed content was recorded in
Early Seedless followed by Late seedless, while
Calcuttia produced maximum seed content. The
maximum total soluble solids and T.S.S.: acid ratio was
recorded in Dehradun. The maximum acidity was
recorded in Calcuttia (Dabral, 3; Singh et al., 9) The
maximum zinc content of 0.77 mg/100g was recorded
in Longia. Likewise the copper content was not found in
 Morphological and Biochemical Characterization of Litchi Cultivars
most of the litchi cultivars except in Mandraji (0.023
mg/100g). The maximum iron content of 4.45 mg/100g
was recorded in cultivar Late Seedless, while
maximum magnesium content of 0.55 mg/100g was
noted in cultivar Late Seedless (Badiyala and Awasthi,
2).
CONCLUSION
On the basis of above study, it can be concluded
that there was significant variation in morphological,
biochemical and yield characters of various cultivars
of litchi which can be used for identification and
breeding purpose. Rose Scented, Late Seedless and
Dehradun have been found superior with regard to
yield and quality characters. In general, among all
mineral contents of litchi fruits, Iron content was found
to be maximum followed by zinc, magnesium and
copper.
REFERENCES
1. Anonymous (2014). Indian Horticulture
Database. NHB, Gurgaon, Haryana.
2. Badiyala, S.D. and Awasthi, R.P. (1991).
Physico-chemical characteristic of some Litchi
chinensis Sonn. cultivars grown in Kangra valley.
Indian Food Packer, 42-45.
3. Dabral, M. (2002). Studies on morphological and
reproductive traits of litchi cuitivars. M.Sc.,
Thesis, G.B.Pant Univ. of Agric. and Tech.,
Pantnagar.
Citation : Chandola J.C. and Mishra D.S. (2015). Morphological and biochemical characterization of litchi
cultivars. HortFlora Res. Spectrum, 4(4) : 361-365.
View publication stats
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4. Dabral, M., Lal, R.L. and Misra, K.K. (2003).
Performance of litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.)
cultivars under foot-hills of Uttranchal. Indian J.
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