VARIATION IN FRUIT AND SEED CHARACTERISTICS OF THREE POPULATIONS OF SHEA TREES ( VITELLARIA PARADOXA) IN THE NORTHERN REGION OF GHANA

Abstract

In June 2000, a nested sampling procedure was used to collect shea fruits from three locations, involving six sites and 30 individual trees from a radius of about 50km in the Northern Region. Our aims were to estimate parameters of fruit weight (FX1), seed weight (SM), seed length (SL), seed width (SW), hihun length (HL), hilum width (HW), percentage pulp (PULP) and the length to width ratio of the seed (LW) in the populations sampled; estimate the variation in these traits, calculate correlations among them and to determine the population structure with respect to these traits. Estimates of these parameters were in close conformity with those reported in the literature. Phriance components revealed that while trees were highly heterogeneous at a site, differences between sites and between locations were less pronounced High Pearson Product Moment correlations between pairs of trails were observed for all pairs of trails except LW and PULP, which correlated poorly with the others indicating the possibility of independence of fruit size traits and percentage pulp. It is recommended that genetic tests he established to enable estimation of genetic parameters and their inheritance patterns.