Genetic resources collection of Pongamia pinnata for biodiesel production in Thailand

Abstract

The collection of genetic resources of Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre for biodiesel production in Thailand was in the period of the year 2011 – 2012. It was found that the natural distributions are along the Andaman shore and eastern sea coast. However, P. pinnata was not found in eastern sea coast of the south. There are 60 genetic resources as the samples.  P. pinnata are found in beach forests and the adjacent areas of beach forest and mangrove forest which are the reserve area of the national parks and government offices. The study result showed that TK1 clone provided the highest oil content which is 33.33% however its seed biomass is the lowest (1.195 g) besides pods of TK1 are small size which can be said that TK1 might not be an appropriate clone for mass propagation. On the other hand, CT3, CT4, CK1, PK2andRS11 are the group of clones which provided the high oil content and high seed biomass which can be classified as the high potential clones for next step of growing trial. The criteria of genetic resources selection of P. pinnata include oil content, seed biomass and other criteria such as growth performance, the percentage of fruiting and seed yield per tree, which are the influences from genetic or environment.

Keywords: Pongamia pinnata, genetic resources, oil content, Biodiesel