Domestication of Irvingia gabonensis: 3. Phenotypic variation of fruits andkernels in a Nigerian village |
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| Authors: | PO Anegbeh C Usoro V Ukafor Z Tchoundjeu RRB Leakey K Schreckenberg |
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| Institution: | (1) IITA High Rainfall Station, IFAD-ICRAF-IITA Agroforestry Project, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Onne, Nigeria;(2) IITA, LW Lambourn & Co, Carolyn House, 26 Dingwall Road, Croydon, CR9 3EE, United Kingdom;(3) Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, P. M. B. 5080, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria;(4) Department of Crop/Soil Science and Forestry, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, P. M. B. 5080, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria;(5) World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), B.P. 2067 Yaoundé, Cameroon;(6) Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), Bush Estate, Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland, EH26 0QB, UK;(7) Present address: Agroforestry and Novel Crops Unit, School of Tropical Biology, James Cook University, P. O. Box 6811, Queensland, 4870, Australia;(8) Overseas Development Institute (ODI), 111 Westminster Bridge Road, London, SE1 7J. D, UK |
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| Abstract: | Domestication of Irvingia gabonensis, a fruit tree grown in agroforestry systems in West and Central Africa, offers considerable scope for enhancing the nutritional
and economic security of subsistence farmers in the region. Assessments of phenotypic variation in ten fruit, nut and kernel
traits were made on twenty-four ripe fruits from 100 Irvingia gabonensis trees in Ugwuaji village in southeast Nigeria, a center of genetic diversity for this species. There were important differences
between the young planted trees of this study and the older unplanted trees of a similar study in Cameroon. Significant and
continuous tree-to-tree variation was found in fruit mass(69.0–419.8 g), flesh mass (59.5–388.8 g), nut mass (9.5–40.6 g),
shell mass (4.9–30.9 g) and kernel mass (0.41–7.58 g); fruit length (49.2–89.3 mm) and width (46.2–100.5 mm) and flesh depth
(12.9–31.4 mm), as well as considerable variation in flesh colour, skin colour, fruit taste and fibrosity. Some fruits were
considerably bigger than those found in Cameroon. These quantitative results will help in the development of cultivars within
participatory approaches to agroforestry tree domestication, and so promote poverty alleviation and sustainable agriculture.
This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. |
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