Variation in the yield and quality characters of cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) clones

Abstract

Twelve clones selected for high yield of capsules and a local check of cardamom were grown in a randomized block design and evaluated for boldness, chlorophyll content of capsule husk, essential oil and its components, 1, 8 cineole and α-terpinyl acetate. Clones were not significantly superior to local check for boldness but, five clones had significantly high chlorophyll content of husk compared to the local check indicating their superiority with respect to green colour of capsules. All the clones yielded significantly higher essential oil per hectare compared to local check. Nine clones were superior to the local check for their per cent essential oil content of capsule, three of them significantly superior. Highest essential oil yield was obtained in Selection 7(190kg/ha) and lowest in the local check (54kg/ha). Seven clones including Selection 12 had higher ratio of α-terpinyl acetate to 1,8 cineole compared to local check, which is a desirable quality attribute. The selections 2,11 and 12 yielded bold and green capsules superior to those of the other entries.