Custard apple

PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY OF CUSTARD APPLE

1. Presentation on : production technology of custard apple Presented by : prabhugouda patil M. Sc ( horti )

2. CUSTARD APPLE (FRUIT OF POOR PEOPLE) Botanical name :- Annona squamosa Family :- Annonaceae Origin :- Tropical America Ch. No :- 2n=14 Synonyms :- Sitaphal, sugar apple, sweetsop,noina, ata .

3. INTRODUCTION Custard apple are delicious fruits and are used when they are full ripe. Pleasant flavor mild aroma and sweet taste have a universal acceptance. Cultivation of custard apple is prevalent in Australia, B razil, Chile, Egypt, India. in India custard apple is under cultivation throughout the southern part and in Assam, Bihar, AP, MP, UP, MH.

4. COMPOSITION AND USES The large aggregate fruits are composed of peel, pulp, seeds. Fruits contain 45% edible portion , 100gm of which composition 70.5gm moisture, 23.5gm carbohydrates, 1.6gm protien, 0.4gm fat Which is also rich in minerals those are calcium 17mg, 45mg of phosphorous, vitamin-a 37mg and gives 104 k cal of energy. USES Fruits are used mainly for fresh consumption . Custard apple is the “fruit of poor people”. Pulp is used in ice creams and puddings. Products such as jam, jelly, squash, syrup, nectar, canned product and a fermented alcoholic beverage.

5. Fruits, seeds, leaves and roots of custard apple are valued for their medicinal properties. As well as used both in ayurvedic and yunani systems. Seeds containing 30% oil which is extracted and used in soap and paint industries. Leaves are used for preparation of blue or black dyes. Seeds are used for abortifacient and roots are drastic purgative agent. Seeds , leaves ,young raw fruits are used for making insecticides and lice killers.

6. AREA AND PRODUCTION The custard apples are mainly growing in tropical parts of America, Australia, brazil, Egypt and some parts of India. Andhra Pradesh is the major fruit growing state in India and following by MH, UP, Bihar, Assam. The Area having 53,000ha and production is 2.5ton fruit yield/ha

7. BOTANY Growth of the plants are shrubs or small trees growing up to 5 to 6m. The leaves are alternate simple and entire. Flowers are born either singly or in small groups, yellowish green and hermaphrodite and protogynous and having auxillary bearing habit. Fruits are heart shaped, fleshy syncarp formed by the fusion of the pistils and receptacle, pericarp is the edible part. Custard like edible pulp. Pollination is mainly by insects i.e. cross pollination.

8. SPECIES AND VARIETIES Custard apple belongs to family annonaceae, this family includes 40 genera and genus annona has got 120 sps out of which 6 have commercial significance. A) Annona squamosa : (custard apple, sugar apple, sweetsop) Having good quality. The fruits develops from loosely cohering carpel's forming a squamose or tuberculeted surface. The pulp around the seeds is very sweet and pleasantly flavoured.

9. B) Annona cherimola : (lakshmanphal cherimoya) cherimoya is one of the finest subtropical fruits. It is the best annonaceous fruit because its acidic sweet flavored and low seed content. it is however not suitable for tropical climate. Based on the fruits form 5 cultivars are there Finger printed Smooth Tuberculeted Mannilate Umbonate.

10. C) Annona reticulata : ( bullocks heart, ram phal) the fruits are heart shaped, nearly smooth and contain for seeds. The fruits quality is poor because of lower sugar content of the pulp. It is a tropical fruit not grown in commercially in India.

11. D) Annona muricata : (sour soap, mundla sitaphal ) It is an evergreen tropical tree, within grows in AP, Assam. Its large heart shaped fruits. The pulp is sour due to the presence of high acidity.

12. E) Annona diversifolia : (ilama) The fruits resembles sugar apple. Best cultivar of custard apple. F) Annona glabra : (pond apple , monkey apple) Swamp loving ornamental plan Useful in breeding for the drought tolerance and colored flesh. G) Annona antemoya :(hanumanphal) Hybrid between the Annona squamosa X Annona cherimola High yielding sps. Is known for quality fruits but low productive variety. Tolerant to more cold.

13. Annona antemoya

14. Annona diversifolia

15. Annona glabra

16. VARIETIES Cultivars are grouped based on the external fruit colour Red type: having red color, smaller leaves and fruits. Green type : having more popularity in India.

17. 1) BALANAGAR Green skinned fruits with medium size High yielding type 2) BRITISH GUINEA Fruit weight is about 151gm and 37.9%pulp 17.9% total sugar

18. BALANAGAR

19. 3) MAMMOTH;- Fruit weight about 183g/ fruit. TSS content: 23%, acidity 0.19%. Good quality fruit. 4) BARBADOS SEEDLING;- Fruits having high sugar content. Fruits having green rind, orange yellow margins. Late season variety.

20. 5) RED SITAPHAL;- This variety originated as a chance seedling. Fruits are dark pinkish. Having average quality and more number of seeds. 6) KAKARLAPAHAD;- Very high yielding variety. It is very sweet and crispy in nature. 7) APK (Ca) 1;- Released from RRS, Aruppukottai, TN during 2003. Yield- 14.9kg/tree. Fruits are medium in size, heart shaped and TSS 24.5*Brix.

21. IMPORTANT HYBRID VARIETIES: 1) ARKA SAHAN;- It is crossed between Annona atemoya X Annona squamosa. Released from IIHR, Bangalore. Suitable for drought prone areas. Fruits having long shelf life and slow ripening character. 2) AFRICAN PRIDE;- It is crossed between Annona cherimola X Annona squamosa. Having good quality fruits.

22. ARKA SAHANA

23. Recently released variety; TROPICAL SUN: Released from Australian Custard apple growers association(ACAGA). Suitable for home gardens. Ripening at room temperature.

24. TROPICAL SUN

25. SOIL AND CLIMATE Custard apple is adapted widely to tropical climate and prefers moderate winter and high humidity during flowering time. Trees cannot withstand frost and prolonged cold weather. Continuous rains during flowering and fruit set results in poor yields optimum RF is 60-80cm. Strong wind causes limb damage , heavy flower drop and fruit damage. SOIL Trees grown in wide variety of soils including sandy, marginal and wasteland types. Fertile, well drained sandy loam soils with neutral to slight acidic PH give better performance. Heavy soils and water logged conditions not suitable. Water stagnation leads to shriveling of branches and sudden death of plants. because stagnation should be avoided.

26. PROPAGATION Propagated by both seeds and vegetative propagatioN Seed propagation : Seeds extracted from ripe fruits are used for sowing. Viability of seeds lasts for 3-4years through best seeds give best germination. Before seed sowing seeds are treated, such as seeds soaking in cold water for 40-70hours are treatment with GA3(500ppm), improve the germination rate. Vegetative propagation : G rafting : insitu cleft grafting is used, using the best root stock are Annona cherimola and Annona squamosa Budding : patch, shield and clip budding.

27. CULTIVATION Planting : The custard apple fruits are planting in the square or triangular systems. Pits are made of 50-60 cubic cm, pits are filled with top soil and 25-30kg FYM. Spacing : 4 X 5m Time of planting : During June-July. After 1 or 2 rains the saplings are planted in the centre o f the pit. Shading, staking and watering should be done to protect grafts after planting in the main field. Manuring : Application of nutrients to custard apple depends upon the soil and climatic conditions. Custard apple trees are well response to fertilizer application in terms of increased vigour, production and quality

28. Age of tree N (kg/ha) P (kg/ha) K (kg/ha) 1 – 2 year 75 50 50 3 – 5 year 150 100 100 > 5 year 250 125 125 R ecommended by UAS, Dharwad

29. TRAINING AND PRUNING Strong tree frame work in custard apple is obtained by training young plants during the initial stages of growth. Keeping single stem up to 50 – 70 cm height and then inducing scaffold branches in all directions makes good frame work of tree. To avoid crowding, proper space among the branches is maintained by removing criss- cross and over lapping branches. Custard apple generally bears on the new growth but some times fruiting also comes on old branches. Therefore, suitable combination of young and old branches should be maintained by judicious pruning and which balancing the vegetative and reproductive growth.

30. FLOWERING AND FRUITSET Plants starts bearing after 3-4 years. Flowering period commences from March-April and continuous to July – August, the peak timing April and May. Very low fruit set in custard apple is a problem under natural conditions, 1 – 8% fruit set is reported. The main reason being poor pollination due to various external and internal factors like dichogamy, hypogyny. The external factors like high and low humidity prevailing at the time of flowering , soil moisture stress. Hand pollination can be practiced to increase fruit set to get better sized fruit and ensure better market price. Fruits can be improved by application of growth regulators, GA (50ppm) at blooming stage, Biocil (1ml/ litre ) just prior to flowering.

31. HARVESTING AND POSTHARVEST MANAGEMENT Custard apple is a climacteric fruit, which ripens after harvesting hence should be harvested at matured stage. Fruits mature in about 100 -120 days from anthesis. Maturity indices:- Changing fruit colour in to light green. Fruits has attained full size. Yellowish white colour has been developed between the segments. Initial cracking in carpels. Post harvest management: Fruit has very poor shelf life therefore for distant markets. Harvesting comparatively harder fruits is advised. Fruits harvested before proper maturity do not ripe well and remain less sweet. Arka sahana has better shelf life.

32. YIELD A well managed grown up custard apple plant can produce 80- 100 fruits/ tree. Arka sahana hybrid produces 25tonnes fruits/ ha. Older trees rarely exceed 100 fruits/ tree unless hand pollination.

33. PLANT PROTECTION PESTS;- Mealy bugs DISEASES;- Anthracnose - Colletotrichum gloeosporiodes. Alternaria leaf spot- Alternaria alternata.