Characterization and evaluation of kitubin jackfruit as a candidate for superior variety in Depok city

Abstract Jackfruit ( Artocarpus heterophyllus Lamk.) is one of the fruit plants that the people of Depok City widely cultivate. The diversity of jackfruit in Depok City is relatively high, thus opening up opportunities to explore, characterize, and select accessions that have the potential to excel in both production and fruit quality. Based on the selection results, one (1) jackfruit accession has been selected that has relatively high productivity and good fruit quality with a delicious taste as fresh fruit, namely Kitubin Depok. The purpose of the study was to characterize and evaluate the selected jackfruit accessions to be registered as candidates for new superior varieties in order to support the provision of certified quality seeds. The study was conducted during 2 harvest seasons, namely from April 2022 to January 2024. The method used in this study was observation, involving direct observation (characterization) of plants and all their parts to determine the character (morphological description) of the accession. The characters observed included vegetative characters (trees, stems, and leaves), as well as generative characters (flowers and fruit). Observation of color (stem, leaves, flowers, and fruits) using the RHS Color Chart. In contrast, the shape (plant, leaves, and fruits) is based on the book Descriptors for Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) published by The International Plant Genetic Resources Institute. Based on the results of observations of vegetative and generative characters, the Depok kitubin jackfruit has characteristics that can be used as advantages, namely, thick and sweet fruit straw, and sweet flesh and a special characteristic: orange-colored fruit flesh, which is different from the common yellow-colored jackfruit flesh.