Classification of Horticultural Crops

Dr. Mandeep Rawat

(Assistant Professor)
College of Agriculture Sciences, ICAR Accredited
Teerthanker Mahaveer University
Delhi Road, Moradabad - 244001, Uttar Pradesh.
 Classification of fruit crops
Based on nature of growth:
• Herbaceous: Banana, Pineapple, Papaya
• Shrubaceous: Karonda, Phalsa, Pomegranate
• Woody: Mango, Litchi, Guava, Apple, Pear, Plum,
Jamun etc.
Based on climatic requirements:
• Temperate: Apple, Peach, Pear, Apricot, Plum,
Almond, Cherry, etc.
• Sub-tropical: Litchi, Citrus, Guava, Fig,
Pomegranate, Ber, Rambutan, Loquat, Phalsa etc.
• Tropical: Mango, Banana, Jackfruit, Pineapple,
Sapota etc.
Based on Continuation on growth:
• Evergreen: Mango, Citrus, Litchi, Sapota, Palm,
Guava
• Deciduous: Apple, Pear, Plum, Peach, Apricot etc.
• Based on fruit morphology:
A. Simple fruits:
I. Berry: It is a many seeded fruit. Here the epicarp is
thin, the mesocarp and endocarp remain
undifferentiated. They form a pulp in which the
seeds are embedded. In these fruits, all parts
including the epicarp with the seeds are edible. Eg:
tomato, banana, papaya, sapota, grape, avocado etc.
a. Modified berry:
• Balusta: A balausta is a many-seeded, indehiscent
fruit that has a tough, leathery pericarp and comes
from an inferior ovary with many locules. Eg:
Pomegranate
• Amphisarca : Amphisarca is a type of fruit that has
many cells, many seeds, a pulpy interior, and a hard
or woody rind. Eg: woodapple and bael.
• Pome: Pome fruits consist of a central "core"
containing multiple small seeds, which is enveloped
by a tough membrane and surrounded by an edible
layer of flesh. Apple, pear, quince, Loquat.
• Stone/ Drupe: mesocarp fleshy, endocarp hard and
stony; usually single-seeded; plum, peach, almond,
cherry, olive, coconut, mango etc.
• Hesperidium—berry with leathery rind; orange,
grapefruit, lemon
• Nut: Botanically, a nut is a fruit with a woody
pericarp developing from a syncarpous gynoecium.
Eg: Litchi, Rambutan, Walnut etc
• Capsule: In botany a capsule is a type of simple,
dry, though rarely fleshy dehiscent fruit produced
by many species of angiosperms. Aonla, carambola
• Multiple/ composite fruits
• Sorosis: means the fleshy type
of fruit formed by the process of
combination of various flowers
with their particular container or
repository, ovaries, etc. eg:
• Syconus:is a composite fruit
formed from a hollow fleshy
inflorescence stalk inside which
tiny flowers develop. The
female flowers produce small
drupes, the pips. Eg: fig
• Aggregate fruits: Raspberry, Custard apple,
Blackberry, Strawberry
Based on parts used:
• Citrus: Juicy placental hairs
• Banana: Mesocarp and endocarp
• Coconut: Endosperm
• Custard apple: fleshy pericarp
• Fig: fleshy receptacle
• Guava: Thalamus and pericarp
• Grape: Pericarp and placenta
• Mango: mesocarp
• Litchi: aril
• Pomegranate: juicy covering of seed
• Pear: stalk of fruit and thalamus
• Almond: seed
• Walnut: seed
• Fig: fleshy receptacle and thalamus
• Pineapple: fleshy axis, bracts, perianth and seed
• Bael: fleshy layer of pericarp
• Jamun: Perianth and thalamus
• Based on botanical relationship:
Monocot
• Musaceae: Banana
• Bromeliaceae: Pineapple
Dicot:
• Anacardiaceae: Mango, Cashew, Pistachio nut
• Actinidaceae: Kiwi fruit
• Myrtaceae: Guava, Jamun
• Caricaceae: Papaya
• Sapindiaceae: Litchi, Rambutan
• Moraceae: Mulberry
• Rahamnaceae: Ber
• Rutaceae: Citrus, Woodapple, Bael
• Rosaceae: Loquat, Apple, Pear, Plum, Peach, Apricot
• Apocynaceae: Karonda
• Vitaceae: Grape
• Sapotaceae: Sapota
• Lythraceae: Pomegranate
• Juglandaceae: Walnut
• Annonaceae: Custard apple
• Tiliaceae: Phalsa
• Based on salinity tolerance:
Tolerant Moderately tolerant Sensitive
Ber, Date, Pomegranate, Fig, Orange, Lemon, Peach, Apricot, Avocado,
Phalsa, Aonla, Custard Mango, Grapefruit, Grape Almond, Plum
apple,Guava

• Based on ripening behavior:

• Climacteric: Fruits experiencing sudden increase in rate
of respiration at the time of ripening. Eg: Mango, papaya,
guava, banana, jackfruit, passion fruit etc.
• Non-climacteric: Fruits experiencing simple gradual
decline in rate of respiration at the time of ripening. Eg:
litchi, citrus fruits, pomegranate, grape, pineapple etc.
 Based on bearing habit:

Terminal bearing Axillary bearing Mixed bearing

Bearing on old •Carambola
Bearing on
•Pomegranate
current growth growth
Bearing on •Morus •Apple •Citrus
current growth Bearing on old •Fig •Peach
•Loquat growth •Phalsa •Pear
•Jackfruit •Mango •Ber •Plum
•Bael •Litchi •Guava •Apricot
•Pecannut •Banana •Aonla •Walnut
•Pineapple •Sapota
•Karonda
• Based on ethylene evolution:
Rate of ethylene Range Name of fruits
evolution Ethylene per kg-hr
Very low Less than 0.1 Citrus, Grape, Pomegranate
Low 0.1-1.0 Pineapple
Moderate 1.0-10 Banana, Fig, Guava, Mango
High 10.0-100 Avocado, Papaya
Very high More than 100 Passion fruit, Sapota
• Based on Photoperiod requirement:
• Short day plants: They require the periodic
exposure of light less than the critical period to
induce flowering. Strawberry, Pineapple, Coffee
• Long day plants: They require the periodic
exposure of light exceeding the critical period to
induce flowering. Passionfruit, Banana, Apple
• Day neutral plants: The flowering in many plants
does not depend on the photoperiod. They are called
day-neutral plants. Papaya, Guava
Classification of Vegetable Crops
Based on botanical relationship:
Monocot:
• Alliaceae: onion, garlic, leek, chives
• Liliaceae: asparagus
• Araceae: elephant foot yum, Taro (Arvi)
• Dioscoreaceae: Greater yum, Lesser yum
• Dicot:
• Cauliflower cabbage, okra, pumpkin, watermelon,
tomato, chilli, carrot, celery,
• Based on temperature tolerance:
• Cool season vegetables: cabbage, cauliflower,
broccoli, spinach etc.
• Warm season vegetables: Brinjal, okra, cucurbits,
french bean, pea, cowpea, cluster bean etc.
• Based on tolerance of soil acidity:
Slighty tolerant pH 6.8 to Moderately tolerant pH Very tolerant pH 5.5 to
6.0 6.8 to 5.5 5.0
Okra, cabbage, cauliflower, Brinjal, pea, pumpkin, Potato, sweet potato,
muskmelon, onion, spinach, radish, tomato, garlic, watermelon, rhubarab
lettuce, leek, asparagus, cucumber, kohlrabi,
broccoli, beet squash, turnip
• Based on salt tolerance:
Sensitive Medium High
Tomato, sanake gourd Chilli, okra, cabbage, French bean, bitter
cauliflower, onion, gourd, ash gourd
radish, bottle gourd

• Based on parts used as food:

• Leafy vegetables: spinach, amaranthus, bathua, mustard
• Stem vegetables: potato, asparagus
• Root and tuber vegetables: yam, colocasia, carrot, turnip,
• Bulb vegetables: onion, garlic
• Fruit: tomato, brinjal, sweet pepper, beans, okra, cucurbits
• Flower : cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, globe artichoke
• Based on methods of raising:
• Direct sown crops:
• Transplanted crops:
• Based on respiration rate:
Very high High Moderate Low Very low
Asparaus, Bean, lettuce, Beetroot, Cabbage, Onion, potato
broccoli, pea limabean carrot, celery, sweet potato,
spinach cucumber turnip

• Based on pigmentation:
• Green colour: (Chlorophyll) leafy vegetables
• Yellow colour: carotenoids
• Red/ Blue clour: anthocynin
 Classification of flower crops
Based on flowering season:
• Summer season annuals: Zinnia, kochia,
portulaca, tithonia, gaillardia, gomphrena,
sunflower
• Rainy season annuals: balsam, cock’s comb,
amaranthus, gaillardia
• Winter season annuals: Aster, corn flower, lark
spur, sweet sultan, phlox, verbena, candytuft,
petunia, nigella.
Zinnia Kochia Portulaca

Gallardia Gomphrena Balsam

 Corn flower
Tithonia Aster

Verbena Candytuft Petunia

Phlox Sweet sultan Nigella
• Based on flower colour:
• White: Alyssum, dianthus, china aster, nigella,
zinnia
• Purple, lavender or blue: ageratum, anchusa,
browallia, clitoria, delphinium, petunia, verbena,
statice.
• Yellow, orange: calendula, dimorphotheca, zinnia
 Dianthus Ageratum Delphinium
D. caryophyllus Ageratum houstonianum Delphinium elatum

Clitoria
Calendula officinalis Dimorphotheca pluvialis
Clitoria ternatea
Based on purpose of growing:
• For rockery: ageratu, alyssum, linum, euphorbia, portulaca
• For hanging basket: dwarf ageratum, petunia, portulaca
• For edging of beds or paths: dwarf ageratum, petunia, portulaca,
verbena,
• For fragrant flowering: rose, jasmine, tuberose, sweet pea, carnation,
sweet alyssum etc.
• For bedding purpose: dahalia, marigold, carnation, phlox, verbena,
ice plant,
• For aromatics: rose, jasmine, tuberose
• For pots: carnation, darcanea, begonia, antirrhinum, petunia,
chlorophytum
• For dry flower: lady’s lace, nigella, acrolinum, helichrysum, static
• For loose flower: marigold, chrysanthemum,
• For hedge: duranta, lawsonia, tecoma, bougainvillea, hibiscus,
dodonea, thevetia
 Lilium Euphorbia Tuberose

Darcanea Carnation Acroclinium roseum

Dracaena fragrans Dianthus caryophyllus
• Based on nature of growth:
• Annuals: ice plant, marigold, verbenea, dahalia,
chrysanthemum, carnation
• Perennial: chrysanthemum, rose, jasmine
• Based on mode of propagation:
• Bulbous plant: lilly, tulips, narcissus
• Cormellous plant: gladiolus, crocus
• Rhizomatous plant: canna, iris
• Tuberiferious plant: dahlia
• Based on growth behavior:
• Herbs: linum, anchusa, browalia, verbena, viola
• Shrubs: rose, jasmine, bougainvillea, tecoma,
chandani
• Trees: champa, amaltas, kadamb, pride of India,
gulmohar
• Based on photoperiodic requiremet:
• Short day: salvia, poinsettia, primerose
• Long day: aster, calendula, gardenia, dephinium
• Day neutral: carnation, hibiscus