Variability for Morphological Traits, Oil and Chemical Constituents Content in <i>Azadirachta indica</i> A. Juss. (Neem) Seeds

Rimpee Garg; Rama Kant; Ashok Kumar; Y. C. Tripathi; S. S. Bisht

doi:10.36808/if/2024/v150i1/169777

Variability for Morphological Traits, Oil and Chemical Constituents Content in Azadirachta indica A. Juss. (Neem) Seeds

Authors

Rimpee Garg Forest Research Institute, ICFRE, Dehradun-248195, Uttarakhand
Rama Kant Forest Research Institute, ICFRE, Dehradun-248195, Uttarakhand
Ashok Kumar Forest Research Institute, ICFRE, Dehradun-248195, Uttarakhand
Y. C. Tripathi Forest Research Institute, ICFRE, Dehradun-248195, Uttarakhand
S. S. Bisht Forest Research Institute, ICFRE, Dehradun-248195, Uttarakhand

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36808/if/2024/v150i1/169777

Keywords:

Azadirachta indica, Seed, Morphological Traits, Oil, Fatty Acid, Limonoids.

Abstract

A study on the variation of morphological traits, oil yield and chemical constituents' content (i.e., fatty acids, azadirachtin, nimbin and salanin) of the Azadirachta indica (Neem) seeds has been attempted. Seed samples were collected from candidate plus trees grown in nine different locations of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The morphological traits (i.e., seed length, seed width, 100-seed weight, seed kernel ratio) of seeds were measured as per standard procedure while the oil was extracted using the solvent extraction method. Estimation of fatty acids (viz. oleic acid, stearic acid, palmitic acid, linoleic acid, arachidic acid) was carried out by using Gas chromatography/Mass spectrometry (GC/MS), whereas limonoids (i.e., azadirachtin, nimbin and salanin) were estimated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Seed morphological traits varied from 13.56 to 18.61 mm, 6.19 to 7.51 mm, 18.07 to 45.71 g and 1.93 to 3.18 for seed length, seed width, 100-seed weight and seed kernel ratio respectively. The average oil yield value ranged from 30.45% to 42.99%. The variations in fatty acid composition (i e., oleic acid 41.41% to 50.52%; stearic acid 16.56% to 21.79%; palmitic acid 17.44% to 19.64%; linoleic acid 11.49% to 18.55%; and arachidic acid 0.30% to 1.80%) were observed. The variations in azadirachtin, nimbin and salanin content were ranged from 4.63 to 9.82 mg/g, 2.40 to 7.34 mg/g and 3.91 to 13.63 mg/g of seed kernels, respectively. Results indicate that there was no relationship between the seed traits, oil yield and chemical constituent's content. As considerable variation exists in the population for oil content, chemical constituents and seed traits, therefore due care has to be taken while selecting superior genotypes.

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