Evaluation of umbu-caja germplasm in the state of Bahia, Brazil

Abstract

The umbu-caja is a tree native to the Northeastern region of Brazil, with promising perspectives of economicuse. Aiming to detect variability in the species, 43 umbu-caja genotypes were identified in 14 counties of the state of Bahia,Brazil. Fruits of these genotypes were collected for physical, chemical and physico-chemical analysis. The range of variationof all analyzed traits was large. Among genotypes, there was, however, predominance of pear-shaped to slightly pear-shapedfruits, fruit weight ranging from 15 g to 27 g, pulp/seed index around 2.0, total titratable acidity between 1.5 and 2.6%, totalsoluble solids between 9.0º and 14.0º Brix, and vitamin C content ranging from 3.6 to 16.4 mg ascorbic acid 100g pulp-1. Thepresence of seeds in genotypes ranged from 5 to 100 % of fruits without seeds.

Keywords

• Spondias
• selection
• genetic variability
• plant breeding.