Morphological Variation in Balanites Egyptiac Seed of Seven Provenances from Sudan

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the morphological variation of seven Balanites aegyptiaca seed sources from different parts of Sudan. Healthy mature uncrushed fruits of Balanites aegyptiaca were collected during the period 2012- 2013 season. The seeds sources included. Elfasher, Elgenaina, Eldinder, Eddmazain, Elgadaref, Kadogly and Kuboshia, Table (1). Seeds characteristics investigated included seeds length, weight, diameter, shape and size.Two hundred seed, five samples, fifty each were randomly chosen from each provenance. Measurements were taken from 50 seeds for each variable per provenance making a lot of 250 seeds/provenance. Results show highly significant differences between provenances in all morphometric characteristics investigated as shown in Table (2). Analysis of variance showed two distinct group of provenances. The first group consisted of Elgadaref, Eldinder, Kadogly and Eddamazain while the second group pieced together in Elfasher, Elgenaina, and Kuboshia. The first group represent provenance from areas of higher rainfall and clay soils whereas the second group represent mostly sandy soil with low rainfall. Generally the first group ranked top approximately in all measured characteristics investigated, while second group ranked significantly lower compared to the first group. The study concluded that there were tangible effects of geographical location in terms of morphometric characteristics differences that can effectively use in breeding and improvement programs of Balanites aegyptiaca.