Use of fruit and seed characters for identification of edible Artocarpus species in India

The genus Artocarpus (family Moraceae) consists of underutilized fruit crops. Taxa, Artocarpus chama Buch. -Ham. (Assam), A. hirsutus Lam. (mainly in Western Ghats, including Kerala, Karnataka), A. heterophyllus Lam. (Assam, Odisha and Bihar), A. communis J. R. Forster and G. Forster (Western Ghats, Andaman and Nicobar), A. lacucha Buch. -Ham. (Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha) and A. gomeziana Wall. (Assam, Andaman and Nicobar) are commonly known for edible value in different parts of India. Identification of taxa based on fruit and seed characters is of most significance in plant genetic resource conservation. Hence, the present study was on the characters of fruit and seed of edible Artocarpus species in India used for identification and developing taxonomic key. Since some of the species are not commonly distributed, additional data from floristic literature and e-floras has been used to validate records on distribution.