Morphological Variability of Jackfruit (Artocarpus Heterophyllus Lamk) in Taba Penanjung District, Central Bengkulu Regency

Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lamk) is widely cultivated in Indonesia and has potential source as food, fruit, vegetable, and industrial raw material. However, scientific information on morphological variation in local jackfruit remains limited, including in Central Bengkulu Regency. This study aimed to describe the morphological characteristics of local jackfruit originated from Taba Penanjung District, Central Bengkulu. Ten jackfruit trees representing five accessions were evaluated. Thirty-eight characters, consisting of 14 qualitative and 24 quantitative characters, were observed based on the descriptor of the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI). Data were analyzed using the Gower dissimilarity coefficient and the Average Linkage method ith PBSTAT-CL version 2.2.1. The five accessions were grouped into to clusters at a cophenetic distance of 0.6. Cluster I consisted of Penum, Lubuk Sini, Tanjung Heran, and Bajak accessions, with variations in crown shape (oblong, spherical, elliptical, and broadly pyramidal), leaf blade shape (elliptic, oblong, and narrowly elliptic), and fruit shape (clavate, ellipsoid, spheroid, and oblong). Fruit length in this cluster ranged from 29,75 to 37,10 cm, flesh weight from 425,81 to 460,92 g per 1 kg of fruit, and total soluble solids from 15 to 16,5 °Brix. Cluster II consisted of the Taba Penanjung accession, characterized by a semicircular crown, obovate leaves, and oblong fruit, with a fruit length of 40,6 cm, flesh weight of 300,25 g per 1 kg fruit, and total soluble solids of 11 ºBrix. Tanjung Heran, Bajak, and Taba Penanjung showed a superior potential as germplasm sources for total soluble solids, flesh weight, and fruit size, respectively, for jackfruit breeding program.