Caracterização fenológica e qualidade de frutos de umbuzeiro em clima semiárido do estado de Pernambuco

Abstract

Umbuzeiro (Spondias tuberosa Arruda Câmara) is a species belonging to the Anacardiaceae family, endemic to the Brazilian semiarid region, and there are no reports of its occurrence in other regions of the planet. The plant has great socio-environmental and economic importance for the Caatinga biome, as it survives very well the hostile conditions of the semiarid climate. However, studies with this fruit are scarce in all areas of research. Notably with regard to its phenological behavior and fruit quality, this study aimed to characterize the phenological stages and fruit quality of umbuzeiro in semiarid climate of the state of Pernambuco. The experiment was carried out with umbuzeiro culture, from November 2017 to April 2018, using three adult accessions, located in the Mata da Pimenteira State Park, Serra Talhada-PE. The physical and physicochemical characterization of the fruits was carried out at the Chemistry Laboratory of the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco of the Serra Talhada Academic Unit. Data were obtained from INMET and evaluated using descriptive statistics, where each value represents the means and standard deviation for the variables studied per plant and the simple correlation between the duration of each phenological stage (in days) and each variable in the period. of the study. To evaluate the umbuzeiro phenology in the 2017/18 agricultural cycle, we evaluated the number of days from flowering to fruiting, followed by the number of days from fruiting to harvest. The curve and rate of fruit growth were also analyzed. For fruit quality assessments the following physical attributes were determined: Diameter (mm), length (mm), shape, mass (g) and fruit yield (%), pulp, rind and stone. For the physicochemical attributes it was determined: the soluble solids content (SS%) and technologist index. Under Pernambuco semi-arid conditions, the average number of days between fruit formation and harvest for the three evaluated accessions was approximately 129.3 days and the average period between floral anthesis and fruit formation was 3.5 days. . The curve representing umbus growth had sigmoidal behavior. Regarding quality attributes, access three presented the highest pulp yield (72.63% ± 2.46%), while access two presented the lowest value (65.56% ± 5%). , 62%). The average soluble solids content for fruits of the three accessions was 14.33%. There is potential for commercialization of fruits from the accesses of umbuzeiros studied in the fresh fruit market. Because it is a fruit tree that can be economically exploited and has a high production potential under semi-arid conditions, it is a great alternative to improve the income of family farmers who produce under rainfed conditions, justifying the need for greater attention to culture. Given this, it is understood that to have commercial exploitation of the culture of umbuzeiro, it is necessary to promote the conduction of more research, capable of generating information that reaches the target population