Correlation Studies on Fruit Traits of Some Mandarin Genotypes Grown Under Sub-Tropical Conditions of India

The relationships between fruit traits of some indigenous and exotic mandarin cultivars were studied during the year 2015–16. The study revealed highly significant positive correlation (r = +0.801) between fruit weight and fruit juice weight followed by fruit weight and segment length (r = +0.761); fruit weight and fruit juice percentage (r = + 0.731); fruit weight and rind weight (r = +0.634) and fruit weight and fruit diameter (r = +0.634). Highly significant and positive correlations were also observed between fruit diameter and fruit rind weight (r = +0.505): fruit rind weight and segment length (r = +0.785); fruit rind weight and fruit juice weight (r = +0.626). Significant and positive correlations were also observed between fruit rind weight and vesicle length (r = +0.538), fruit rind weight and fruit juice percentage (r = +0.491), fruit rind weight and number of segments per fruit (r = +0.481). However, negative and significant correlation (r = −0.534) was observed between diameter of fruit axis and fruit juice weight followed by non-significant negative correlation between diameter of fruit axis and total soluble solids (r = −0.386). Total soluble solids showed positive correlations with fruit juice weight (r = +0.444) and fruit juice percentage (r = +0.443) and negative correlation (r = −0.227) with fruit acidity. These correlations among different fruit traits help to understand the relationship between different mandarin genotypes and must be considered before targeting the desired traits in improvement programme.