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Elaeagnus
latifolia
belongs to family
Elaeagnaceae locally known as Soh-shang in Khasi hills of Meghalaya. The
people of Meghalaya have found many uses of Soh-shang fruit besides enjoying
it as fresh fruit. In North Eastern states, it is quite common in Sibsagar (Dikho
valley of Assam), Naga hills (Nagaland), Khasi and Jaintia hills of
Meghalaya up to an elevation of 1500 m asl. This shrub is mostly grown in
semi wild condition in the back yard garden of many families of the region.
It is a large evergreen spreading type woody shrub with rusty-shiny scales
that are often thorny. The flowers are hermaphrodite and are pollinated by
Bees. The fruit is oblong in shape with dark pink color at the time of
ripening. It flowers during September-December and the light pink coloured
fruits are harvested during March-April in 3-4 picking. The fruits are quite
perishable and can be stored only for 3-5 days at room temperature. Fruits
are sold in the local market @ Rs.15- 20/kg. The fruit contains a single
large seed that has very less viability. The fruits are eaten raw with salt
and used for making chutney and
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NUTRITIVE VALUE OF FRUITS
The fruit is considered to be a very rich source of vitamins and minerals and other bioactive compounds. It is also a fairly good source of essential fatty acids, which is fairly unusual for a fruit. It is being investigated as a food that is capable of reducing the incidence of cancer and also as a means of halting or reversing the growth of cancers.
Physical data of Soh-shang fruit showed in Table 1 revealed that the fruit weight ranged from 6.73 to 22.94 g with an average fruit weight of 14.06 g. Fruit size in terms of length and diameter ranged from 2.44 -3.86 and 1.82-3.01 cm, respectively. Pulp recovery from fruits ranged from 58.40 to 74.69% with average of 70.24%. Seed weight and seed size also varied due to genotypes.
Chemical constituents of the fruit presented in Table 2 showed the great variation within genotypes. TSS ranged from 8.8 to 11.2%, acidity 1.96-4.03%, ph 3.1-3.3, ascorbic acid 4.8-7.2 and TSS: acidity ratio from 2.23 to 5.71 in different genotypes of Soh-shang fruits.
Table 1: Physical fruit properties of Soh-shang genotypes of Meghalaya
|
Genotypes |
Fruit wt (g) |
Fruit length (cm) |
Fruit dia. (cm) |
Pulp recovery (%) |
Seed wt/fruit (g) |
Seed length (cm) |
Seed dia. (cm) |
|
RCE-1 |
15.17 |
3.41 |
2.57 |
73.43 |
2.80 |
2.84 |
1.25 |
|
RCE-2 |
22.94 |
3.89 |
3.01 |
68.44 |
4.78 |
3.14 |
1.55 |
|
RCE-3 |
15.29 |
3.34 |
2.52 |
72.44 |
3.87 |
2.87 |
1.42 |
|
RCE-4 |
6.73 |
2.44 |
1.82 |
58.40 |
2.05 |
2.26 |
1.14 |
|
RCE-5 |
13.51 |
3.35 |
2.40 |
74.69 |
3.14 |
2.86 |
1.28 |
|
RCE-6 |
10.74 |
3.36 |
2.04 |
74.02 |
2.50 |
2.82 |
1.12 |
|
Mean |
14.06 |
3.30 |
2.39 |
70.24 |
3.19 |
2.80 |
1.29 |
Table 2: Chemical fruit properties of Soh-shang genotypes of Meghalaya
|
Genotypes |
TSS (%) |
Acidity (%) |
pH |
Ascorbic acid (mg/100 g pulp) |
TSS: acidity ratio |
|
RCE-1 |
8.9 |
3.74 |
3.1 |
4.8 |
2.38 |
|
RCE-2 |
9.0 |
4.03 |
3.1 |
4.8 |
2.23 |
|
RCE-3 |
8.8 |
3.23 |
3.2 |
9.6 |
2.72 |
|
RCE-4 |
11.2 |
1.96 |
3.7 |
9.4 |
5.71 |
|
RCE-5 |
9.2 |
3.37 |
3.2 |
7.2 |
2.73 |
|
RCE-6 |
10.0 |
3.07 |
3.3 |
7.2 |
3.26 |
|
Mean |
9.52 |
3.23 |
3.27 |
7.17 |
3.17 |
CULTIVATION
The plant requires well-drained soil and can be grown in nutritionally poor acid soil. It can be grown in dry as well as in moist soil and can tolerate drought. This species has a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Soh-shang can be propagated by both seed and cutting. Seed should be shown in nursery within a week after extraction from fruit otherwise seed will loss the viability up to 50- 60%. Cuttings of mature wood of the current year's growth, 10-12 cm length of pencil thickness having 3 nodes should be planted during rainy season in nursery or poly bag filled with soil mixture. Cutting takes 15-20 days to start sprout and ready for planting in field within 3-4 months after sprouting. Generally, Soh-shang is planted during rainy season, June – July is the best time for planting in Meghalaya condition. Plants are planted at 4 m x 4m spacing in square planting system. It starts bearing at 2 years after planting and gives the yield around 10-15 kg fruit/tree. Generally plants are less affected by disease and insect- pest. Moreover, Spraying of Endosulphan @ 2 ml/L during fruit development is beneficial to avoid the infestation of fruit borer. Among various under-utilized fruits of NE region of India, Soh-shang fruit has great potential because of its hardy nature, early bearing, high yielder and various uses of ripe fruit by the local people.
