Selection of accessions of Euterpe edulis Mart. based on fruit and pulp characteristics
摘要
The use of Euterpe edulis for the sustainable management of its fruits requires the development of superior genotypes. As a native species, the commercial plantations are challenged by limited information on seedling production, planting, cultural practices and production process. This study aimed to generate initial databases for conducting E. edulis breeding focused on fruit characteristics. A total of 499 plants from a commercial population (a cultivated group of plants grown specifically for commercial production purposes) were evaluated for nine characteristics of fruit. High diversity was detected, through the restricted maximum likelihood method and the prediction of genotypic values using the best linear unbiased prediction. Six groups were detected. The repeatability estimates ranged from medium to high, indicating accuracy in predicting the true value. The average difference between the base population (the original group of plants used for selection) and the selected population reached 97.40% for total anthocyanins, showing high potential for selection. This encourages the implementation of planned planting and ecological management of the fruits.