Morpho-biochemical Evaluation of Three Sugar Apple (Annona squamosa L.) Genotypes

Sugar apple is an underutilized minor and non-traditional nutritious fruit in the southern regions of Bangladesh. The target of this study was to evaluate the morphological, biochemical, and mineral traits of sugar apple genotypes for selecting superior genotypes. Three sugar apple genotypes were used for this study and it was conducted following a randomized complete block design with three replicates. Results indicated that significant differences existed among the sugar apple genotypes. The highest fruit length (9.25 cm), fruit width (9.63 cm), fresh fruit weight (149 g), ripe fruit weight (137.80 g), pulp weight (91.00 g), peel weight (32.25 g), edible portion (66.08%), the number of seeds per fruit (50.25), seed length (12.94 mm), seed width (8.69 mm), seed fresh weight (14.50 g fruit-1), seeded pulp (76.59%), dry matter content (30.01%), pH (5.50), ascorbic acid (36.28 mg 100g-1), P (117.63 mg 100 g-1 DW), S (542.09 mg 100 g-1 DW), and Fe (6.21 mg 100 g-1 DW) were obtained in the G3 genotype compared to other genotypes. On the other hand, G1 showed the highest amount of fruit peel (29.94%), moisture content (73.54%), and non-reducing sugar (5.36%). Genotype G2 showed maximum values regarding total soluble solids (25.50%), total sugar (20.06%), reducing sugar (15.36%), Ca (359.60 mg 100 g-1 DW), and Mg (326.95 mg 100 g-1 DW) contents. It can be summarized that genotype G3 exhibited superior performance in morphological and biochemical properties of fruits and the majority of mineral contents.