Potential of wild, underutilized Actinidia callosa and Actinidia strigosa from Northeast India for kiwifruit breeding

Kiwifruit (Actinidia spp.) is cherished for its nutritional and medicinal properties having very limited history of crop improvement. Actinidia strigosa and Actinidia callosa are underutilized wild species occurring in Northeast India having distinctive flavour, aroma and resista wide range of biotic and abiotic stresses. The potential application of these species may be as genetic material to improve kiwifruit quality, yield, and stress resistance. These species may serve as cold-resistant rootstocks and can be used to breed cold-resistant cultivars, and by this kiwifruit cultivation can be expanded into higher elevations, leading to increase in kiwifruit area and production in India and neighbouring countries in the Himalayan foothills. Since these wild species produce delicious fruit with high nutritional and medicinal properties, there is great opportunity to domesticate and bring these wild kiwifruit to market as a local produce, as demand for kiwifruit is increasing globally. These species need to be investigated in detail for their genetic makeup using advanced genomics to understand their evolution and to help the breeding effort. These species represent a valuable gene pool that could be exploited as a source of genetic material or brought to market as a locally grown fruit that can supplement our food supply and nutritional needs. This article summarizes the significance and utility of these wild species in kiwifruit breeding and consolidates relevant and contemporary information on taxonomy, botany, genetic diversity and possible approaches for their use in kiwifruit breeding.