Philippine Journal of Crop Science (PJCS) August 2009, 34 (2):93-97 Copyright 2008, Crop Science Society ofthe Philippines ‘Amarillo’ The First Philippine Yellow Variety of Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum L.) Pablito M. Magdalita’ and Lolita D. Valencia Crop Science Cluster Institute of Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, University of the Philippines Los Bafos, College {Laguna 4031, Philippines; “Comesponding Autor, pmmagdaiita@yahoo com On-site selection and evaluation of rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum L.) trees grown from seeds located tangas and Cavite, Philippines were conducted to identify superior individual trees for je and registration. Three best selections were identified out of 100 individual trees evaluated preliminarily for various horticultural characteristics. After another two succeeding evalu: periods, one selection out of the three i indeed outstanding in terms of fruit qualities, and uniai terms of fruit color. This selection was released as a variety called ‘Amarillo’, named after its attrac unique golden yellow fruit color that is similar with the flower color of the Amarillo or marigold (Tagetes erecta) ornamental plant. ‘Amarillo’ is the first yellow rambutan with unknown parentage registered with the National Seed industry Council. The fruit is oblong, weighs 18.38 g and measures 62.65 mm long and ‘36.89 mm wide. The skin and spines are thick and leathery. The fiesh is white, juicy, smooth, separates quite easily from the seod and very sweet (22.35°8x). The fruit has a relatively large edible portion (60.7%). The seed is oblong and measures 25.40 mm long, 14.60 mm wide and 8.70 mm thick. The tree is ‘vigorous, an annual and regular bearer, has a to September. fruiting season. smi-upright growth habit with a fruiting season from July The original ‘Amarillo’ tree, that is 10 yr old, yiolds 60-60 kg of marketable fruits in one Keywords: ‘Amarilo, Nephelium lappaceum L., on-site selection, rambutan, yellow variety INTRODUCTION There are more than 300 edible species of fruits and nuts found in the Philippines but only about 60 ‘species are being cultivated. The major fruit species being grown are banana, pineapple and mango, while the rest are considered either minor of promising fruit crops. Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum L.) is once a wild fruit growing in southem. Philippines until the introduction of good varieties in the 1950's. Because of its commercial value, orchards were established in Laguna, Davao, Oriental Mindoro and Bukidnon while backyard planting is practiced in many other places of the county. The total production of rambutan in the Country as of 2006 is 13,406 mt, planted to 5.444 ha. The top three growing regions are: South Cotabato Sultan Kudarat_ Saranggani General Santos (SOCCSKSARGEN, 1,338 ha), Cavte Laguna Batangas Quezon (CALABARZON, 1,618 ha) and Mindoro Marinduque _Romblon Palawan. (MIMAROPA, 718 ha) (DA-BAS 2006) Rambutan is a native of the Malay archipelago, and it is one of the most popular fruit crop because of its attractive colors, exquisite and lovely taste. It is commonly referred as Christmas balls because of its fruit shape and arrangement. The word rambutan came from the Malay word *rambut" meaning hair, referring to the hairy fruit, sometimes called the hairy lychee. Rambutan fruit is primarily used as fresh fruit for dessert. Those intended for export are preserved by canning in syrup. In addition, the roots, leaves and bark have medicinal properties as they are used as decoction for treating fever, and as poultice and as astringent for treating diseases of the tongue (Coronel 1986). Rambutan is a diploid species belonging to the family Sapindaceae or soapberry family. The trees are usually cross-pollinated so that under natural conditions there is a large magnitude of genetic variability among seedling progenies leading to differences in sex, size, color of the fruit, thickness and quality of ari. Magdalita and Valencia (2004) found a wide variability for fruit weight, fruit length, total soluble solids (TSS), edible portion, and seed weight among 100 strains of rambutan evaluated for phenotypic characteristics. This existing variability could be exploited to come up with a selection of a rambutan variety using on-site selection strategy (Magdalita and Valencia 2007) which is similar to mass selection. On-site selection and evaluation strategy is based on the individual tree performance particularly fruit qualities and tree bearing habit. This strategy is the most efficient approach towards variety development in perennialcrops like rambutan due to the inherent limitations of these crops including: long breeding cycle, large growth habit, heterozygosity, incompatibility and apomixis. Since itis a direct selection technique, on- Site selection could offset the long breeding cycie in rambutan if iis grown from seed which is 8-10 yr (Bautista etal, 1984) Researchers-breeders at the Crop Science Cluster- Institute of Plant Breeding (CSC-IPB), College of Agriculture, University of the Philippines Los Bafos (UPLB) embarked on a project similar to mass selection of rambutan, ie. individual desirable plants were selected solely based on their phenotype. The resulting seed is pooled and the progenies are grown in mass, and the best plant is selected (Janick et al 1981). ‘The purpose of this project is to evaluate current fruiting rambutan trees and select a new rambutan variety with good horticultural characteristics MATERIALS AND METHODS To carry out this selection process, on-site selection and evaluation of a total of 100 superior rambutan trees that came from seed were intially done. A population of rambutan trees grown from seed are naturally exhibiting a wide phenotypic variability while an individual tree is heterozygous (Coronel 1986). One hundred sample trees located in various sites in Batangas (23), Cavite (7) and Laguna (70) were evaluated (Magdalita and Valencia 2004) Preliminary identified superior trees during on-site selection were prolific bearer whose fruits are sweet, juicy, attractive and free from common pests and diseases. From these trees, 10-20 fruit samples were taken at random and brought to the laboratory for the analysis of quantitative characteristics (e.9. fruit weight, fruit length, fruit width, flesh thickness, ‘TSS and percent edible portion) and qualitative traits (eg. fruit shape, skin color, flesh texture, flesh color, spine color, skin texture and juiciness). Based from the results of the preliminary fruit evaluation and gross morphological features of the tree, the top three promising selections were identified, and were tagged with the selection number and date. The owners of the selected trees were also notified regarding the status of the selection ‘These promising selections were re-evaluated for the next 2 consecutive years to evaluate the yield stability and consistency in the horticultural trait, particularly taste, under field conditions. For each year of monitoring and evaluation, special emphasis was placed on the assessment of the biennial bearing habit of the tree which is the tendency of the 4 tree to bear frut in 1 year but not the following year. ‘After 3 years of evaluation, the best three selections were finally identified from which scions were taken land grafted to rootstocks. Mother plants were ‘subsequently used as scion groves in the ‘screenhouse and in the field. The scion grove served as source of scions for further multiplication of the three best selections and ‘Amarillo’ is one of them, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Pedigree of ‘Amarillo’ rambutan The ‘Amarillo’ rambutan was developed from an open-pollinated seedling tree of unknown parentage. ‘This tree is one of the seven rambutan trees growing in the backyard of Dr. Ponciano Batugal in the University of the Philippines-Comnell (UPCO) Housing, College, Laguna. The seed where the tree came from originated from Malaysia. This unique selection was given a cultivar name and then registered with the National Seed Industry Council (NSIC) as ‘Amarillo’, whose name is after the fruits golden yellow color that is similar with the flower color of marigold (Tagetes erecta) or Amarillo in the Spanish language. While on the process of assessing the breeding value of ‘Amarillo’ as a potential variety, NSIC rigidly compared its traits with the previously developed criteria for variety selection standards set by the Fruits Crops Technical Working Group (FCTWG). Since the ‘Amarillo’ rambutan passed the standard criteria, it was then recommended to the NSIC Technical Secretariat for approval ofits registration, In 2003, the IPB released the ‘Amarillo’ as the first Philippine yellow variely of rambutan, This variety ‘can be planted as a main crop or an intercrop to other crops ike coconut, coffee or cacao. Planting ‘could be done at the onset of the rainy season. Asexually propagated plants could start bearing fruit 3-5 yr after planting, ‘Amarillo’ grows well in humid land warm areas with well-drained sandy loam or clay soil with plenty of organic matter. Ample irrigation is, needed during the entire growing period particularly at flowering stage as it could double fruit production of the trees. A cover crop like tropical kudzu (Pueraria phasioloides) could be used to conserve soil moisture and prevent weed growth Watersprouts, low-lying and dead branches and those that rub with each other are pruned to improve the architecture of the ‘Amatilo' tree ‘Tree and Fruit Characteristics of ‘Amarillo’ The tree and fruit characteristics of ‘Amarillo’ are presented in Table 1. This cultivar when ripe has a "Amarillo the first yellow rambutan varietyTable 1. Tree and fruit characteristics of ‘Amarilo! rambutan compared to the check variety ‘JMG RS Wain Characteristics Description of ‘Amarilio’ Description of Check Character Evaluated Variety ‘JMG-R5" Tree Height (m) 80 70 Growth habit semi-upright spreading Vigor strong strong Fruiting season July to Septemer duly to September Regulaity of bearing ‘annual annul Yield (a) 50-60 very prolific Woke fruit Weight (9) 34.12 50.00 Lengtn (mm) 5285 55.00 ‘th (ene) 36.89 44.00 Shape ‘oblong ovoid ‘skin Color {golden yellow deep red Texture leathery rough and leathery Weight (9) 18.28 25.40 Thickness (mm) 286 3.80 Flesh Color white pearly white Texture smooth ‘smooth and firm siciness cy very lucy Total soluble sols ("8,) 22.85 26.00 Edible portion (%) 60.70 43.40 Seed Number 1.00 4.00 (Weight (g per seed) 2.32 290 Length (mm) 25.40 25.00 Wath (mim) ‘460 46.00 Thickness (mm) 5.70 : Shape ‘oblong fat yellow skin and spines that are relatively thick (2.86 mm), leathery and weighs 18.38 g (Figure 1). The attractive yellow skin and. spines is the main difference of ‘Amarillo’ with other rambutan varieties, thus it is the first known yellow rambutan variety registered with the NSIC. The whole fruit is oblong, weighs 34.12 g, is 52.65 mm long and 36.89 mm wide (Table 1). The flesh is white, juicy, smooth and very sweet (22.35°Bx). ‘Amarillo! has a higher TSS (22:35°Bx)_ than the popular rambutan vanety “Goyena R13" (20.94 °Bx) (Pascua 2008) The flesh separates quite easily from the seed. The fruit has a relatively large edible portion (60.7%) and contains one seed Its larger edible portion compared with other rambutan varieties, ie. “JMG RS’ (43.4%) and JMG R3' (42.2%) (NSIC nd), is the main advantage of ‘Amarillo’ rambutan. A higher edible portion is important since more edible flesh is available for consumption. In addition, ‘Amarillo’ has, a seed (2.32 g) and peel (18.38 g) that weigh lesser than ‘JMG R5' (2.90 g seed, 25.40 g peel) (NSIC nd). The seed that is oblong in shape has dimensions PM Magdalta & LOC Valencia 25.40 mm (length), 14.60 mm (width) and §.70 mm (thickness). ‘The ‘Amarillo’ rambutan tree at the time it was initially selected is about 10 yrs old with a height of 8.0 m. It is vigorous, an annual and regular bearer that has cross-pollnating habit, has a semi-upright growth with a fruiting season from July to September, The tree can yield 50-60 kg of marketable fruits in one fruiting season. In each cluster, 8-15 loosely arranged fruits were produced (Figure 1). The original selected tree was free from insects such as twig borers, mealy bugs, and frutfly, and diseases such as vein necrosis and fruit rot Propagation ‘The ‘Amarilio’ rambutan could be propagated by cleft grafting, approach grafting or inarching. The same Propagation technique was proven useful to multiply other rambutan varieties like ‘Roja’ (Magdalita and Valencia 2009), 'Goyena R13’, “JMG-R3 (NSIC nd) and ‘Maharlika’ (Coronel 1986). During the period of active growth of the tree from February to Apri 95Figure 1. The fruits of ‘Amarilo’ rambutan. ‘scions or budsticks measuring 100-150 mm in length with active terminal leaf buds that are ready to sprout can be taken from the mother tree growing in the scion grove. The pencisized scions can be deft grafted onto 6-8-month-old healthy seedling Footstocks. The newly propagated plant js ready for planting 2-3 mo after grafting, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION AA strategy using on-site selection and evaluation of rambutan trees grown from seeds resulted in the identification of a unique variety. This variety with unknown parentage is called ‘Amarillo, named after its attractive golden yellow color of the skin and spines which is of similar color to the flower of the ‘Amarilo or marigold omamental plant. It is the first yellow rambutan variety registered with the NSIC. 6 The fruit is medium-sized (18.38 g), oblong, with thick and leathery skin. The flesh is very sweet (22.35 Bx), juicy, smooth and separates quite easily from the seed. It has a relatively large edible portion (60.7%). The tree has semi-upright growth habit, vigorous, regular bearer with a fruiting season from July to September. About 10-year old ‘Amarillo’ tree ‘can yield 50-60 kg of marketable fruits in one fruiting season. Itis recommended that grafted materials of ‘Amarillo’ be used for planting to ensure genetic fidelity of the variety. ‘Amarillo’ can be planted in hot, humid and flat areas having rich well-drained sandy loam or clay soil with plenty of organic matter. It can be planted at the onset of the rainy season as a main crop or an intercrop to other crops like coconut, coffee or cacao. “Amarilo' the first yellow rambutan varietyACKNOWLEDGEMENT ‘The authors would lke to thank Dr. Ponciano Batugal of Sacay Village, College, Laguna for allowing the researchers collect fruit samples for 3 years and Mr Marcelino T. Gregorio and Mr. Danilo Ubaldo of CSC-IPB for propagating the mother tree and maintaining the scion grove. They are also grateful for the various forms of help extended by Ms. Luciana A. Reyes, Imelda L. Alcachupas and Anna Teresa Isabel D. Ocampo-Rebong and Mr. Bill ‘Anderson, LITERATURE CITED Bautista OK, Espino RRC, Sangalang JB, Valmayor HL 1994. Vegetative propagation. In: Introduction to Tropical Horticulture 2" Ed. Bautista OK, Editor, SEAMO Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEAMO SEARCA) and University of the Philippines Los Bafios (UPLB), College, Laguna, p.183-211, [DA-BAS] Department’ of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Statistics. 2008, Crop production statistics of the Philippines 2001-2006. Diliman, ‘Quezon City. 96 p. Coronel RE. 1986. Promising Fruits of the Philippines. College, Laguna, Philippines University of the Philippines Los Bafios College of Agriculture. 508 p. PM Magdalita & LDC Valencia Janick J, Schery RW, Woods FW and Ruttan VW. 1981. Plant Science An Introduction to World Crops. 3" ed. WH. Freeman and Co., San Francisco, USA. 868 p. Magdalita PM, Valencia LD. 2004. Fruit variability ‘and correlation analysis of some phenotypic characters in avocado (Persea americana Mill), rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum L.) and ‘sweetsop (Annona squamosa L.). Philipp Agric ‘Scientist 87 (4):6-12 Magdalita PM, Valencia LD. 2007. ‘Amarillo’, ‘Roja’ ‘and ‘Mabini: Recent NSIC-registered varieties. Proceedings of the 19" FCSSP Conference. Philipp J Crop Sci, Vol. 32, Suppl. 1, 104 p. Tagaytay City, June 13-15, 2007. ‘Magdalita PM, Valencia LD. 2009. ‘Roja’ a red and sweet rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum L.) cultivar. Philipp J Crop Sci 34 (1):119-123 Pascua GS. 2008, New NslC-registered fruit varieties. Paper presented at the 16" National Fruit Symposium, November 5-7, 2008, Los Bafios, Laguna, Philippines. INSIC] National Seed Industry Council nd, Seed Catalogue. Bureau of Plant Industry, Department of Agriculture, Quezon City. 387 p. 7