IMPORTANCE, SCOPE AND COMMERCIAL CULTIVATION OF PHALSA
Vishal S Rana
Department of Fruit Science
Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry
Nauni, Solan (HP) 173 230
Phalsa (Grewia subinaequalis DC syn. Grewia asiatica L. (Masters),a subtropical fruit is native to India and is
one of the oldest fruit known to Indians. It has been mentioned in vedic literature due to certain medicinal qualities. It is
capable of growing under neglect and water scarcity conditions where a few other crops would survive. It comes in the
market during April to May and the cold drink from its juice is a delicacy unmatched. However, its popularity is
restricted owing to highly perishable nature, small size of fruit and repeated harvesting. Therefore, the plantations are
mainly confined near big cities in the states of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Small
scale cultivation of this crop is seen in Maharasthra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Karnataka.
Phalsa is the most commonly used vernacular name in India but there are several other names in customary uses
like dhamin, parusha and shukri in Hindi; dhaman in Punjabi; man-bijal, bijol goah in Assamese; phalsa and shukri in
Bangala; mirgi chara and pharasakoli in Oriya, phalsa in Gujarati, phalsi in Maharashtra, fana, nallajana, phutiki in
Telagu; palisa, tadachi in Tamil and buttiyudippe and tadasala in Kannada. It is known by various names in other
countries of the world like phalsa and dhaman in Pakistan; phalsa and siyal phusre in Nepal; pophlie in Cambodia; nhap
in Laos, bariuan-gulod in Philippines; malai , ya-khithul and pa tao hai in Thailand and Co-ke-a in Vietnam.
Area and Distribution
It is widely cultivated in tropical and sub-tropical parts of India, Pakistan, Bangaladesh, Thailand and
Philippines. Phalsa is a drought hardy fruit and is grown successfully in the hot and dry plains having distinct summer
and winter.Thus, it is the most suited short duration fruit crop for arid parts of the country for the production of quality
fruits even under the extreme summer conditions. Around the beginning of the 20 th century, it was introduced into East
Indies, including the Philippines at low elevation in the dry zones of the island of Luzon. It is grown in north and central
Thailand. It reached Western counties much later in the 20 th century. In the United States also, a few phalsa plants have
been established as specimens for experimentation in Florida. In Australia, it is found in drier woodlands and coastal
regions (Smith, 2002).The data on area and production under this fruit is not available on account of its scattered
plantations and lack of regular and commercial orcharding.
Composition and Uses
Ripe fruits are reddish brown and sub acidic in taste. The fruits are good source of vitamin A and C.The fruits
are also rich in carbohydrates, calcium, phosphorus , iron, carotene and fibre .Analyses made in Philippines established
that the phalsa fruits contain 725 calories/kg edible fruit, along with moisture (81.13%), protein (1.58%), fat (1.82%),
crude fibre (1.77%), and sugars (10.27%) (Morton,1987). At Fort valley, Georgia (USA), every 100 g edible portion of
phalsa fruit has been found to contain 70.3% moisture, 905 Kcal calories, 0.1 g fat. 0.57 g proteins, 21.1 g carbohydrates,
5.53 g dietary fibre,1.1 g ash, 36 mg calcium, 24.2 mg phosphorus, 1.08 mg iron, 372 mg potassium, 17.3 mg sodium,
16.11 ug vitamin A, 0.02 mg thiamin, 0.264 mg riboflavin, 0.825 mg niacin and 4.385 mg ascorbic acid. In general, the
fruits contain 50-60 % juice, 10-11 % sugars and 2to 2.5 % acidity (Aykroyol, 1963).
Phalsa is used as table fruit by children, otherwise, basically it is used for making excellent juice and squash.
The fruits are cooling, aphrodisiac and tonic and alley thirst and burning sensation, cure inflammation; heart and blood
disorders and fever. Fresh phalsa leaves are used as animal fodder. The bark is used for treatment of diarrhea. Barks of
root are utilized in treatment of rheumatism. The leaves are believed to have antibiotic properties hence, applied on skin
eruptions. The bark is also used as soap substitute in Myanmar. A mucilaginous of bark is useful in clarifying sugar.
Fibre extracted from the bark is made into rope. Basal portion of pruned branches are utilized in the orchards for staking
of fruit plants while upper portion of branches with little more than pencil thickness is used for basket making. The
phalsa flowers contain grewinol, a long chain keto-alcohol (Lakshmi and Chauhan , 1976). The phalsa seeds yield
approximately 5% bright yellow oil which contains 8% palmitic acid, 11% stearic acid ,13.5% oleic acid and 64.5%
linoleic acid (Morton, 1987).
Taxonomy and Morphology
Phalsa is a member of family Tiliaceae which belongs to the order Malvales. Other important families of the
order Malvales are Bambacaceae, Sterculiaceae and Elaeocarpaceae. Tiliaceae family consists of about 400 species under
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41 genera spread across tropical regions of the world. The genus Grewia has 140 species of which 40 occur in India.
However, G. subinaequalis D.C. is only of commercial importance.
The phalsa plant is bushy in nature but can grow to a height of 4 - 5 m as a small tree, if left unpruned. The stem
is rough with numerous long, slender, drooping branches. Bark greyish white or greyish brown, sapwood whitish,
heartwood small, irregular shaped, dark brown. The young branchlets are densely covered with a coating of hairs. Leaves
are obliquely cordated, serrated, 5 to 7 nerved from the base, densely tomentose from beneath. Flowers yellow in axillary
cymes about 5/8 inches across. Fruit is red, small, a drupe about the size of pea.
Climate and Soil
The phalsa is a warm climate fruit plant. In India, this plant grows satisfactorily and produces well upto an
elevation of 1000 m. It grows under subtropical climate but does best in regions with distinct winter and summer. It sheds
leaves in winter. In tropics, continuous and irregular crop of poor quality is a common sight but fruiting can be monitored
through moisture regulation. A grown up plant can tolerate freezing temperature for a few days. The plants can tolerate
temperatures as high as 44o C.Clear weather during fruiting enhances the quality of fruits. The temperature range for
growth is reported to be 10-44oC with the optimum between 23-34oC. Photoperiodically, it is a short day plant.
Observations in the Middle Georgia (USA) indicated that growing phalsa is feasible in temperate areas also if cold
protection is assured.
The phalsa plant can grow under wide variety of soil and is considered to be one of the most hardy fruits and
drought resistant. For best results, well drained loamy soils are preferred. Under water stagnation, plants become
chlorotic. They are moderately sensitive to salinity (upto 6 mmhos/cm) and in calcarious soils, Fe-chlorosis is a common
problem.
Varieties
There are no well-known varieties available but some local selections such as Local, Sharbati, Tall and Dwarf
are known in different growing regions.The tall growing wild phalsa plants produce fruits which are of marginal quality
and are not relished by most of the consumers. The low growing dwarf and/or bushy type of phalsa plants which develop
fruits with a good blend of sugar and acid are preferred for cultivation. Dwarf type phalsa is high yielder and the fruits
contain 34.8 % juice, 12.1oBrix TSS and 3.6 % acidity. The Tall type gives comparatively lower yield but has higher TSS
(19.0oBrix) and lower acidity (1.1%). In USA, Miami-12489(MIA-12489) type tall shrub or small tree with fewer and
strong branches is also grown.
Propagation
Both seed and vegetative propagation methods are successful for raising phalsa plants. Seed propagation is a
commercial method.Under normal storage temperature, seeds remain viable for three months and can be extended to six
months by low temperature storage. Seeds require 15-20 days for germination and can be hastened by soaking in water
for 24 hours. About 3-4 months old seedlings are transplanted in the main field.
Asexual methods like cutting, layering and grafting are also successful in phalsa. Hard wood cuttings dipped in
IBA (100 ppm) solution or treating with ethrel (250 ppm) for 5 minutes ,followed by IBA (3000 ppm) for 2 minutes give
70 - 75% rooting. Air layering has been reported to give 80-90% success by treating the layered portion with IBA (5000
ppm) or NAA(10000 ppm).Soft wood grafting is also successful in phalsa. One year old rootstocks raised in situ ,grafted
with procured scion (10 days) shoots has been found to give 100% success.
Planting
Planting is done during July-August or February-March at a spacing of 2.5-3.0 m. Phalsa is also suited for close
planting i.e. 2 m x 2 m apart which accommodates 2500 plants/hectare. Pits of 60 cm 3 are prepared and filled with top
soil and 10 kg of compost.
Training and pruning
Phalsa plant is trained to develop a bush form. Desirable height of pruning is 0.9-1.2 m from ground level
depending on locality and soil type. Severe pruning either to ground level or at 25 cm height produced the longest shoots
with maximum number of nodes and fruits (Reddy and Chadha, 1993). But Kandolia and Bhuva (1993) opined that light
pruning (75 cm from ground level ) followed by nitrogen application @ 100 g/plant increased shoot production and yield.
Pruning is done when the plants become dormant during December to January. Fruits are produced on the current
season’s growth. Light pruning done annually is very much essential in phalsa for obtaining higher yield and better
quality fruits. Under previous pruning levels, plants pruned to 100 cm from ground level recorded maximum number of
fruiting nodes and yield (Kumar and Reddy, 1997). In the arid climate of Western Rajasthan, pruning upto a height of 40-
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50 cm done during the first week of December has been found optimum for getting better growth, maximum yield and
quality of fruits (Singh et. al., 2004).
Nutrient Management
Vegetative growth and fruit production in phalsa is greatly improved by the application of manures and
fertilizers. Pareek and Vishal Nath (1996) suggested that the nutrients in phalsa plant should be applied as per diagnosis
of leaf tissues.The 4th leaf from the tip of shoot, 30 days after bud burst is considered to be the best representative tissue
for nutrient diagnosis. Under semi-arid conditions of Udaipur, application of 40 g N and 10 g K 2O per bush is considered
optimum whereas, in the arid part of Haryana 15 kg FYM per plant should be applied soon after pruning followed by 250
g calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) before sprouting and after fruit set. Two foliar sprays with 60 ppm GA3 + 1.0% urea,
first at flower bud opening and second after 15 days of the first spray increases growth, yield and quality of fruits. In
sandy soils, basal application of 50 g ZnSO4 and 0.4% borax should be done during April and May to overcome boron
deficiency.
Orchard Floor Management
Green manuring with moong, cowpea, urd, dhaincha (Sesbania sp.) can be done during rainy season by turning
them into the soil at early growth stage. Generally,due to its bushy nature and close planting coupled with heavy annual
pruning, no intercrop is taken in phalsa orchard. One or two shallow ploughing after pruning is desirable to control weeds
and to mix the FYM into the soil. One ploughing is also done after fertilizer application.
Irrigation
Phalsa is a drought tolerant crop but for obtaining good quality and high yields, irrigation is a must. Irrigation
can be started during February after the application of first dose of fertilizers. Afterwards, during summer, water is given
at 15-20 days intervals.
Flowering and Fruit set
In phalsa, flowers are borne as axillary cymes on the new growth. Depending on vigour, flowering and fruiting
are confined to 15-20 nodes from the base in new shoots.The first flower to open is at the base. Pruning and defoliation
enhance new shoot production which in turn determine the fruit yield/plant. Flowering season is Februarty-March. Bioregulators improve fruit set, yield and quality in phalsa. Application of GA (10 ppm) increases fruit set while, GA (20
ppm) and 2,4,5-T (5 ppm) improves fruit retention, fruit size, weight, yield and quality.
Harvesting and Post Harvest Management
Phalsa fruit follows a double sigmoid growth curve and the respiratory curve is of non-climacteric type. The
fruits should be harvested at correct time of maturity which can be judged by the colour. Colour change from green to red
is the correct index of maturity and it should be firm at the time of harvest (Singh and Acharya, 1999). Fruits require
about 50 to 60 days for maturity from fruit set. The harvesting season is March-April in the south and May-June in the
north India.Harvesting of fruits is laborious in phalsa because in every 2 to 3 days interval, mature fruits are to be picked.
Three to four weeks time is required for completion of harvest. Number of pickings can be reduced by pre harvest
application of ethephon (500 ppm) during the time of colour change of fruits. This will also improve quality attributes
like colour, vitamin C and total soluble solids.
Harvesting and handling of phalsa fruits should be done with utmost care to prevent physical injuries like
bruising, skin punctures and cuts. Storage life of such fruits is very low and they also do not fetch proper market. Fruits
for distant market are harvested at colour changing stage. Fruits picked individually by hand are collected in bamboo or
plant baskets cushioned with green leaves or newspaper cuttings. The yield from a single phalsa plant is about 5-7 kg.
Harvested fruits are pre cooled to reduce field temperature. Fruits can be graded according to size (large and
small) and colour (turning stage and red ripe state). Fruits (2-5 kg) are packed in bamboo baskets cushioned with gunny
cloth or paper cuttings for distant markets. Corrugated hard board boxes are also used for packing fruits. For easy
handling of phalsa during transit, pre packing of the fruit can be done for local sale. Fruits are packed in leaf cups and
covered with perforated polythene sheets or bags for safer transit.Shelf life of fruits is determined by the stage of harvest.
Fruits harvested at turning stage are stored for 2-3 days while red ripe fruits show single day life at ambient temperature.
Cold storage of phalsa at 5-7oC, harvested at turning stage extended storage life up to 7 days.
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Crop Protection
The phalsa tree is comparatively free from pests and diseases. One serious pest is the bark eating caterpillar
(Indarbela sp.). This makes tunnels in main branches and trunk and at severe cases, affected part dies off. Major control
measures adopted is plugging holes after injecting petrol or kerosene oil. This should be done just after pruning operation
in December-January. Brown beetle (Anomala sp.) is another pest in this crop, which affects foliage and is serious during
the rainy season. It can be effectively controlled by spraying Dieldrin (0.1%).
The most common disease of phalsa is brown spot caused by Cercospora grewia. Important symptoms are
occurrence of tiny lesions on both sides of leaves which later spread to more areas with white mass. Premature leaf fall is
also noticed during rainy period. Spraying Dithane Z-78 (0.3%) can effectively control the disease.
Future Research Needs
Phalsa is a dwarf stature fruit tree which can very well fit to mixed plantations in arid and semi arid areas. Agrotechniques of this crop have been standardized. However, suitable varieties with bigger fruit size and better post harvest
management techniques for this crop is very much essential.
References
Aykroyd, W.R.1963.The nutritive value of Indian foods and planning of satisfactory diets (6 th Eds.) Indian Council for
Medical Research, New Delhi,pp.101-126
Kandolia, S.H. and Bhuva ,H.P.1993.Response of different level of pruning and nitrogen on Phalsa (Grewia
subinaequalis ),In :Abstracts, Golden Jubilee Symposium, Horticultural research-changing scenario, Horticultural
Society of India, New Delhi ,pp.404-405
Kumar, B.P. and Reddy,Y.N.1997.Effect of alternate pruning on yield and quality of phalsa under Bangalore condition.
Indian J. Hort.54(1):14-18
Lakshmi,V. and Chauhan, J.S.1976.Grewinol, a keto-alcohol from the flowers of Grewia
asiatica .Lloydia 39:372-374
Morton, J.F.1987. Phalsa .In:Fruits of warm climates. Julia Morton, Miami, FL.pp.276-277
Pareek, O. P. and Vishal Nath.1996.Phalsa.In:Coordinated fruit research in Indian Arid Zone-Two decades
profile.NRCAH,Bikaner:1-105.
Reddy Y.N. and Chadha K.L.1993.Pruning in Ber and Phalsa .In: Advances in Horticulture Vol.2-Fruit Crops.
Part(2).K.L.Chadha and O.P.Pareek(eds.)Malhotra Publishing House, New Delhi,pp.708-715.
Singh, S.P. and Acharya,P.1999.Effect of stages of harvesting on physico-chemical attributes of phalsa (Grewia
subinaequalis ).The Hort. J.12(1):81-85
Singh, D.B.; Awasthi, O.P. and Singh,R.S.2004.Response of pruning on growth, flowering and fruiting in phalsa (Grewia
subinaequalis ), The Hort. J.17(1):9-15
Smith, N. M.2002.Weeds of the wet-dry tropics of Australia-A field guide .Environmental centreNT,Inc.pp.19
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