Abstract

Quality characters are influenced by many factors and among them the most warranted is the physiological maturation of the seed. In rising any plantation seed serve as the base material, which is characterized for its potentiality only based on its quality, which is spoken in terms of seed germination and seed vigour. Tree crops which are having continuous flowering habit, the maturity levels vary with seeds and collection of fruit for seeds is also mostly depends on ground collection. Hence studies in four important oil yielding tree species viz., Pongamia pinnata, Simarouba glauca, Azardirachta indica and Madhuca longifolia for identification of visual indices for seed maturation based on fruit colour that correlates well with seed quality. The results revealed that seeds of dark brown fruits of P. pinnata (96%), dark pink fruits of S. glauca (95%), yellow fruits of A. indica (100%) and greenish black fruits of M. longifolia (80%) registered maximum germination and seedling vigour in terms of seedling  growth characters compared to fruits of various colours in all the species indicating that fruit colour could serve as the symptom of harvest index that could be employed for the selection of quality fruits for obtaining quality seeds.

Key words: Fruit colour, harvest index, seed quality, biofuel tree crops.