Flowering, yield and quality of ber (Ziziphus mauritiana Lamk.) cultivars
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https://doi.org/10.58993/ijh/2026.83.2.9Keywords:
Ber, flowering, pollen viability, fruit set, fruit retention.Issue
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Copyright (c) 2026 Dr Om Prakash Op, Kaushal Yadav, Bijendra Kumar Singh, Vaishali Gangwar, Jyoti Yadav, Prashant Singh, Bhawna Singh

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The present investigation was conducted during 2024-25 at the Instructional Farm, Department of FruitAbstract
Science, College of Horticulture, Banda University of Agriculture and Technology, Banda (U.P.). The experiment
was laid out in a Randomized Block Design with seven cultivars (Thai Apple, Gola, Banarasi Karaka, Umran,
Seb, Elaichi, and Kaithli) and three replications to evaluate flowering behaviour, yield, and physico-chemical
attributes. Significant differences were observed among cultivars for all parameters studied. Flower initiation
occurred from the first to third week of September, and all cultivars exhibited axillary bearing. ‘Gola’ recorded
the highest pollen viability (90.89%), while ‘Thai Apple’ showed early flowering and superior fruit retention
(45.67%). The maximum initial fruit set (26.52%) and yield (58.28 kg plant-¹) were recorded in ‘Kaithli’. ‘Thai Apple’
produced heavier fruits (44.66 g) with higher pulp weight (41.58 g). In terms of biochemical attributes, ‘Kaithli’
recorded the highest TSS (18.25 °Brix), TSS: acid ratio (67.66), and total sugars (11.31%) with minimum acidity
(0.27%), whereas ‘Thai Apple’ showed maximum ascorbic acid content (102.29 mg 100g-¹). Based on overall
performance, ‘Thai Apple’ and ‘Kaithli’ were found superior and are recommended for commercial cultivation
under Bundelkhand conditions.
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1. Choudhary, H. D., Garhwal, O. P. and Choudhary, M. R. 2017. Evaluation of performance of flowering, fruiting and quality characters of twenty genotypes of ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk.) under semi-arid conditions of Rajasthan. Curr. Hortic., 5: 48-52. 2. Dhillon, W.S. 2011. Climate change and horticulture. In: Impact of Climate Change on Fruit Crops, Dhillon, W.S. and Aulakh, P.S. (Eds.), Narendra Publishing House, New Delhi, 177- 184. 3. Ibrahim, M., Shafique, M. Z., Helali, O. H., Rahman, M. M., Biswas and Islam, M. S. 2009. Studies on the physiological and biochemical composition of different ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk.) cultivars at Rajshahi. Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res., 44: 229-232. 4. Kumar, M., Singh, S., Pathak, D. V. and Gadara R. K. 2016. Impact of natural ripening on physico-chemical characteristics of ber fruits. Agric international, 3: 12-18. 5. Kumar, P., Srivastava, A. K., Prakash, Om, Thakur, N. and Singh, P. 2021. Studies of correlation co-efficient for different physical and chemical fruit parameters of Ber (Ziziphus mauritiana Lamk), Ind. J. Pure App. Biosci., 9: 88-91. 6. Kumar, P., Srivastava, A. K., Prakash, Om., Thakur, N. and Singh, P. 2021. Germplasm survey, collection and evaluation of ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk.) under Bundelkhand Region of Uttar Pradesh. Ind. J. Pure App. Bio. Sci., 9: 259-266. 7. Kumari, S. Bhat, D., Wali. V., Bakshi, P. and Jasrotia, A. 2015. Physico-chemical studies of different ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk.) germplasm under rainfed conditions of Jammu. The Bioscan, 10: 1427-1430. 8. Nair, P.K.K. 1960. A modification in the method of pollen preparation. J. Sci. Ind. Res. Sect. C, 19: 253-260. 9. Nehra, N. S., Chitkara, S. D. and Singh, K. 1984. Studies of morphological characters of some wild forms and cultivated varieties of ber. Punjab Hortic. J., 24: 49-50. 10. Pareek, O. P. 2001. Ber: International Centre for Underutilized Crops, Southampton, UK, pp. 292. 11. Pareek, S., Kitinoja, L., Kaushik, R.A and Paliwal, R. 2009. Post-harvest physiology and storage of ber. Stewart Postharvest Review, 5:1-10. 12. Patil, D. M., Katecha, P. M. and Kadam, S. S. 1999. Drying of ber preparation of shreds and powder. Processed Food Industry, pp: 14–15. 13. Raja, S. 2004. Morphological and molecular characterization of ber germplasm. M.Sc. Thesis, CCS HAU, Hisar. 14. Ram, R. B., Ganesh, S., Deepa, H., Dwivedi and Abdul, K. 2008. Physico-chemical studies on ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk) germplasm under sodic soil condition of Lucknow. India J. Agro forestry, 10: 78-80. 15. Saran, P. L. 2005. Studies on genetic divergence in ber (Ziziphus mauritiana Lamk.) germplasm. Ph.D. Thesis, CCS HAU, Hisar. 16. Sharif, N., Jaskani, M.J., Alwi, M., Bloch, D.M., Abbas, M.M. and Ishfaq, M. 2013. Categorization of Ber varieties in relation to blooming period, fruit setting and harvesting time. Pak. J. Agric. Sci., 50: 407-413. 17. Singh, V. K., Shankar, K., Tiwari, N. K. and Rao, O. P. 2016. Effect of certain nutrients on fruit set, fruit retention, physical characters and yield of ber fruits (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk.) cv. Banarasi Karaka. Int. J. Bio-resour. Stress Manag., 7: 648-652. 18. Tarai, R. K. and Ghosh, S. N. 2010. Varietal evaluation for yield and yield parameters of ber under semi-arid region of West Bengal. J. Horti. Sci., 5: 17-20. 19. Teaotia, S. S. and Chauhan, R. S. 1963. Flowering, pollination fruit set and fruit drop studies in ber (Zizyphus mauritiana Lamk). A floral biology. Punjab Hortic. J., 3: 60-70. 20. Yamdagni, R., Bajpai, P.N. and Misra, R.S. 1967. Studies on floral biology of ber. Labdeb J. Sci. Tech., 13: 240-248.
References
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