Journal of Progressive Agriculture, Vol.6, No.

2: October 2015
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Performance of acid lime cultivars for hasth bahar under semi arid condition of Vidarbha
MAHANTESH KAMATYANATTI*, VIKAS RAMTEKE, MURLI MANOHAR BAGHEL AND D.H. PAITHANKAR
Department of Horticulture,
Dr. P.D.K.V., Akola 444104, Maharastra, INDIA

Received: 14.02.15
Accepted: 06.07.15
ABSTRACT
An experiment was conducted during 2013 and 2014 to evaluate the Performance of different acid lime (Citrus
aurantifolia Swingle) cultivars for hasta bahar was conducted at All India Co-ordinated Research Project on Tropical
Fruits (Citrus) Dr. PDKV, Akola . Observations on growth parameters, fruit set, yield attributes and quality parameters
were recorded. The plant growth parameters in respect of plant height (4.28 m) and plant volume (67.60 m 3) was found
maximum in cultivar PDKV lime in hasta bahar, first flowering was observed in cultivar Chakradhar while lastly flowering
was noted in cultivar Tenali. Number of flower/shoot noted maximum in cultivar Vikram (146.33), while fruit set
percentage was more (30.97 %) and duration of flowering was less (25.43 days) in cultivar PDKV lime. Fruit yield on the
basis of number of fruits per plant (661.33) and 37.73 kg/plant was recorded highest in cultivar PDKV lime also superior
fruit quality in respect of maximum fruit weight (58.24 g), fruit volume (54.27 cm 3), fruit diameter (3.79 cm), T.S.S (8.25
Brix), Acidity percentage (8.66) Ascorbic acid (32.8 mg/100ml) was recorded in variety PDKV lime whereas maximum
juice content (49.57 %) and minimum number of seeds per fruit (1.50) was observed in cultivar Chakradhar.

Key words: Acid lime, Cultivars, Juice content, Fruit set, Performance, Quality and Yield.
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Citrus in India is grown in an area of 10, 42,000 to select proper cultivar which will be highly priced in this
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hectare with a total production of 100.90 lakh tonnes (Anon., region. Hasta bahar flowering is observed in September-October
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2011). The most important commercial citrus groups in India
are the mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) followed by sweet
orange (Citrus sinensis Osbeck) and acid lime (Citrus
aurantifolia Swingle) sharing 41, 23 and 23 per cent,
respectively. India is the largest producer of acid lime in the
world (Chadha, 2002). It is generally grown under both tropical
and subtropical climatic conditions in the plains and up to an
elevation of 1200 MSL. In India, it is commercially cultivated
in the states of Maharastra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu, Gujarat and Bihar. Acid lime fruits have great medicinal
value being acidic. Lime is appetizer, stomachic, antiscorbutic,
antihelmintic and it checks biliousness (Thirugnanavel et al.
2007). It is used in omitting and gaster etc. Lime used in making
candy, chocolate, ice-cream, pastries and 100 gram fruit juice
content 80 percent of water, (26 IU carotene), 20 mg Vit. B1, 0.1
mg Riboflavin, 63 mg Vitamin C, 1.83 mg iron (Fe), 0.16 mg
Copper (Cu), oxalo-acetic acid 0.30%, malic acid 8.2% and
alkaline salt therefore it is an essential for human health
(Decuyperes, 2000). Introduction of promising acid lime
cultivars in region is an option for increasing the production and
productivity. But performance varied significantly with
cultivars, location, agro-climate and soil type etc. The variation
with regard to growth and bearing habits, yield, colour and
quality among different acid lime cultivars were also reported
by Singh and Lal (1982), Ranpise et al (1995) and Ingle et al.
(2000) in different parts of the country. Good numbers of
varieties of acid Lime with desirable qualities are now available
in Maharashtra. This includes varieties Chakradhar, Tahiti,
Pramalini, Vikram, Tenali, Sai Sharbati, Mangai Pattu, PDKV
Lime, etc. It is known that yielding ability and quality of fruit is
considerably influenced by the climatic condition of the region.
Studies on performance of varieties of acid lime have been
scanty in Maharashtra. There seems to be not studies on the
varietal performance in this region. It is therefore felt necessary
32
month and is initiated after completion of rainy season and
starting of winter i.e. in October. The fruit of hasta bahar are
ready for harvesting at April-May. Fruits having more demand
due to non availability of other fruits in this season. The price of
hasta bahar fruits are 6 to 8 times more than ambia bahar and 3
to 4 times than mrig bahar. So, it is beneficial to cultivar in
Akola region. Various varieties have good performance for
hasta bahar. But it is essential to study performance of acid lime
varieties for hasta bahar under Vidarbha conditions.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
The investigation to assess the performance of acid lime
cultivars was carried out at the AICRP on tropical fruits
(Citrus), PDKV, Akola. The budded plants of eight acid lime
cultivars viz. Pramalini, Vikram, Tenali, Sai Sharbati,
Kagzi lime, Mangali Pattu, PDKV lime and Chakradhar
were planted 2005 in the field at 6 m apart under square system
of planting. Three plants of each variety were planted under
field repository of acid lime for assessing their performance.
The uniform management practices with respect to nutrition and
irrigation were adopted for all the cultivars. To assess the vigour
of different cultivars the growth parameters, like plant height,
plant volume, number of flowers per shoot, fruit set, duration of
flowering, fruits per plant and yield per plant were recorded at
the end of investigation. The fruit yield and quality attibutes
were recorded during hasth bahar season of 2013 and 2014 and
pooled data were presented in the Table 1 and Table 2
respectively. The quality and fruit characters, like fruit weight,
fruit volume, number of seeds per fruit, fruit diameter, juice
content, peel thickness, T.S.S., acidity and ascorbic acid were
recorded and presented based on pooled data of 2 year when all
the varieties came in fruiting. Fruit diameter and peel thickness
was recorded with the help of vernier calliperse. TSS was
determined with the help of hand refractometer. Titrable acidity
 Journal of Progressive Agriculture, Vol.6, No. 2: October 2015
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was estimated against N/10 NaOH and ascorbic acid content of
fruit was determined with the help of method given by
A.O.A.C. 1995. The agroecological region comes under semi
arid hot ecosystem where experimentation was done. The soil
was heavy clay with medium fertility status and good water-
holding capacity. The data on various parameters were analyzed
by method of analysis of variance using randomized block
design having three replications as described by Panse and
Sukhatme (1985).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Growth and yield parameters
Data on plant vigour of different cultivars were recorded to
observe the relative growth behaviour of these cultivars under
uniform management situation. Data pertaining to plant height
(Table 1) revealed that it was maximum in Sai Sharbati (4.33
m), followed by PDKV lime (4.28 m), Mangali Pattu (4.22
m) showing upright growth habit. The cultivars Pramalini (3.81
cm), Vikram (3.76 cm) and Chakradhar (3.52 cm) were at par
with each other showing semi- spreading growth. However
plant height recorded minimum in Kagzi lime (3.21 m). Plant
volume vary from 29.15 to 67.60 m3 with the maximum in Sai
Sharbati (75.16 m3) followed by PDKV lime (67.62 m3),
Mangali Pattu (60.12 m3), and minimum was recorded in
Tenali (29.15 m3). Variation of plant growth characters in
different cultivars may be attributed to genetic feature of
individual variety (Dhandar and Shukla 2004). The maximum
number of flowers per shoot was recorded in Vikram (146.33
cm) which was closely followed by Mangali Pattu (143.20),
PDKV lime (136.28) and Pramalini (134.94) and minimum
was recorded in Tenali (96.94). Fruit set was recorded
maximum in PDKV lime (30.97 %) closely followed by
Tenali (29.53 %), Vikram (27.86 %) and minimum in
Chakradhar (21.60 %). Duration of flowering in acid lime
was observed maximum in Tenali (40.43 days) and minimum
in PDKV lime (25.43 days).

Table 1. Plant growth and fruit yield attributes of acid lime cultivars. (Pooled data of 2 years)
Cultivars Plant height Plant volume Number of *Fruit set Duration of flowering Fruits per Yield per plant
(m) (m3) flowers per shoot (%) (days) plant (kg)
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Pramalini 3.81 37.45 134.94 26.18 (30.77) 26.18 602.67 28.51

Vikram 3.76 47.68 146.33 27.86 (31.86) 27.86 518.00 27.35

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Tenali 3.24 29.15 96.94 29.53 (32.95) 29.53 454.67 25.00

Sai Sharbati 4.33 75.16 117.18 27.47 (31.61) 27.47 608.00 33.68

Kagzi lime 3.21 43.17 115.16 27.57 (31.67) 27.57 617.67 32.24

Mangali Pattu 4.22 60.12 143.20 26.55 (31.02) 26.55 483.33 22..00

PDKV lime 4.28 67.60 136.28 30.97 (33.81) 30.97 661.33 37.73

Chakradhar 3.52 42.46 134.06 21.60 (27.69) 21.60 280.00 12.86

S.E(m) 0.11 0.69 2.09 0.73 0.75 5.83 0.74

CD (P=0.05) 0.34 2.09 6.30 2.27 2.274 17.61 2.22
* Figures in parentheses are arc sign transformed values.

Significantly highest number of fruit was recorded in PDKV Quality parameters

lime (661.33) followed by Kagzi lime (617.67) and Sai
Sharbati (608.00). Kagzi lime, Sai Sharbati and Pramalini were
at par with each other. However lowest no. of fruits per plant
was recorded in Chakradhar (280.00) for hasta bahar. This
type of variation may be due to phenotypic and genotypic
interactions among cultivars under test condition. Highest fruit
yield were recorded in PDKV lime (37.73 kg/plant) found
significantly superior over other followed by Sai Sharbati
(33.68 kg/plant). While the lowest fruit yield per tree was found
in Chakradhar (12.86 kg/plant). Higher fruit yield in PDKV
lime is mainly due to more number of flowers and fruit/ cluster
and more number of productive branchlets. The fruit yield/tree
was increase with the increasing age and canopy of the tree but
did not follow any trend. This was due to difference in cropping
load of two consecutive years as well as fruit dropping
behaviour of cultivar, Saroj et al. (2008) have also observe
similar fact in bael (Aegle marmelos). The variation in number
of fruits per tree and fruit yield due to cultivar in acid lime was
also reported by various workers viz., Jature and Chakrawar
(1981), Jawaharlal et al. (1989) and Desai et al. (1994).
Table 2 indicated that fruit weight was maximum in PDKV
lime (58.24 g), followed by Sai Sharbati (55.53 g) and Kagzi
lime (52.68 g) whereas minimum was found in Chakradhar
(46.19 g). The maximum fruit volume was observed in PDKV
lime (54.27 cm3) which was closely followed by Sai Sharbati
(51.06 m3), Kagzi lime (50.36 m3) and minimum in
Chakradhar (42.51 m3). Sai Sharbati (51.06 m3) Kagzi lime
(50.36 m3) showed at par value. From the mean results, the
number of seeds per fruit was maximum in cultivar Kagzi lime
(12.11) closely followed by Pramalini (11.38), Sai Sharbati
(10.61), PDKV lime (10.26) and minimum in Chakradhar
(1.50). Similar results were reported by Shinde et al. (2004) in
kagzi lime (11.6), Pramalini (9.02) and Vikram (7.12).
However, fruit diameter were recorded maximum in PDKV
lime (3.79 cm) and minimum in Chakradhar (3.01 cm). The
variation in fruit weight, fruit volume, number of seeds per fruit
and fruit diameter might be due to genetic behavior of different
cultivars with bigger or smaller sizes varying with weight.
These results were in accordance to the Bagde and Patil (1989)
Prasad and Rao (1989) and Athani et al. (2009).

33
 Journal of Progressive Agriculture, Vol.6, No. 2: October 2015
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The results with respect to juice content, peel thickness, total
soluble solids, acidity percentage and Ascorbic acid are depicted
in Table 2. The highest juice content was recorded in
Chakradhar (49.57 %), followed by Pramalini (48.20%),
PDKV lime (46.63 %) and minimum in Tenali (41.67%).
Peel thickness was varied from 1.41 mm to 2.23 mm with
maximum in Mangali Pattu (2.23). The maximum T.S.S was
recorded in PDKV lime (8.25 Brix), followed by Sai
Sharbati (8.20 Brix), Pramalini (7.83 Brix) and minimum in
Mangali Pattu (7.33 Brix). The increase in T.S.S. might be
due to conversion of starch and there insoluble carbohydrate
into soluble form of sugar which are responsible for increasing
the T.S.S. content (Hulme, 1970). Acidity percentage in acid
lime was varied from 6.95 to 8.66 % in different cultivars with
maximum in PDKV lime (8.66 %) followed by Sai Sharbati
(8.41%) and minimum was recorded in Mangali Pattu (6.95
%). The maximum ascorbic acid is observedin in PDKV lime
(32.8 mg/100ml) followed by Sai Sharbati (31.43 mg/100ml),
Chakradhar (30.22 mg/100ml) and minimum in Mangali
Pattu (25.42 mg/100ml). The variation in ascorbic acid content
may be attributed as a varietal character and due to favorability
of seasonal conditions. Thus, it can be concluded that PDKV
lime, Sai Sharbati and Kagzi lime can be recommended for
commercial cultivation in semi arid ecosystem of Vidarbha.

Table 2. Fruit quailty attributes of acid lime cultivars. (Pooled data of 2 years)
Cultivars Fruit Fruit Number of Fruit Juice Peel T.S.S *Acidity Ascorbic acid
weight volume seeds per diameter content thickness (Brix) (%) (mg/100 ml
(g) (cm3) fruit (cm) (%) (mm) juice)
Pramalini 48.23 45.33 11.38 3.63 48.20 1.57 7.83 7.97 29.13
(2.82)
Vikram 51.74 48.32 8.35 3.48 46.30 1.77 7.67 7.53 28.17
(2.74)
Tenali 46.89 43.42 8.44 3.69 41.67 1.45 7.46 7.40 27.45
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(2.72)
Sai 55.53 51.06 10.61 3.56 45.21 1.79 8.20 8.41 31.43
Sharbati (2.91)
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Kagzi lime 52.68 50.36 12.11 3.58 43.73 1.41 7.51 7.60 28.53
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(2.76)
Mangali 45.52 42.33 9.80 3.44 44.30 2.23 7.33 6.95 25.42
Pattu (2.64)
PDKV lime 58.24 54.27 10.26 3.79 46.63 1.72 8.25 8.66 32.8
(2.94)
Chakradhar 46.19 42.51 1.50 3.01 49.57 1.67 7.75 7.41 30.22
(2.73)
S.E(m) 0.22 0.31 0.48 0.08 0.29 0.01 0.03 0.02 0.36
CD 0.65 0.93 1.45 0.24 0.87 0.03 0.08 0.05 1.10
(P=0.05)
* Figures in parentheses are square root transformed values.

Plant height (m) Fruits per plant

5 700
600
4 500
3 400
300
2 200
100
1 0
0

Figure 1. Plant height of acid lime cultivars under semi arid Figure 2. Fruits per plant of acid lime cultivars under semi
condition arid condition

34
 Journal of Progressive Agriculture, Vol.6, No. 2: October 2015
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100 Fruit weight (g)
50
Figure 3. Fruit weight of acid lime cultivars under semi arid
condition
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