Morphological Characterization of Soursop (Annona muricata L.) Germplasm in Tamil Nadu

Annona muricata L. is an underutilized fruit tree species in Tamil Nadu, which is mostly confined to homegardens. Despite the importance of A. muricata, collection, characterization and improvement of its germplasm is limited in Tamil Nadu, hence hindered its effective conservation and utilization. Therefore, the objective of this research was to identify morphological variation of A. muricata populations in Tamil Nadu. Survey was conducted in homegardens of Vellore district in the Dry zone, Salem, Coimbatore districts in the Intermediate zone and Kanya kumari districts in the Wet zone. Forty five morphological characters were recorded from 22 accesions and subjected to Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Factor Analysis (FA). Implications of findings are discussed in relation to utilization and conservation. Such rich diversity is posed to dangerous threats of genetic erosion due to urbanization and other developments. So, efforts should be made to conserve the genetic diversity either as ex situ or in situ.