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Mauritia flexuosa (Arecaceae: Calamoideae), an Amazonian palm with cultivation purposes in Peru

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2007

Cesar Delgado ,
Guy Couturier  and
Kember Mejia
Cesar Delgado
Affiliation:
Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana, Pbio, Avenida Abelardo Quiñones, km 2,5, Apartado 784, Iquitos, Perou
Guy Couturier
Affiliation:
Museum national d’Histoire naturelle, Département systématique et évolution, case 50, Antenne IRD, Entomologie, 57, rue Cuvier, 75231 Paris Cedex 05
Kember Mejia
Affiliation:
Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana, Pbio, Avenida Abelardo Quiñones, km 2,5, Apartado 784, Iquitos, Perou
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Abstract

The plant. The aguaje (Mauritia flexuosa L. f.) is an Amazonian palm which grows naturally on flooded soils, forming dense gatherings called aguajales in Peru. It can reach a height of 35–40 m. Each tree has an average of 8 inflorescences per year and each inflorescence produces about 900 fruits. This palm is in the domestication process. A dwarf form, recently discovered, could permit the improvement of the methods of production. The fruit. The fruit is an ellipsoid oval-shaped drupe, covered by red or dark red-coloured cornea scales. It measures (5 to 7) cm long and (4 to 5) cm in diameter. The pulp has a high content of β-carotene (260 mg·100 g–1 of pulp). Marketing. Marketing is carried out for fruits coming from the natural environment. There is a local consumption of approximately 150 t·month–1 and it can be of raw or processed fruit. For this fruit’s demand, it is necessary to cut down approximately 24 000 palms a year. Discussion. The aguaje has big social and economical importance to these regions' inhabitants. It represents great potential for the national as well as the international market. The Research Institute of the Peruvian Amazon (IIAP) is devel-oping technologies for agronomical management of the species, and for production and proc-essing of the fruit. Studies on aguaje growth and genetic diversity in the natural conditions also have to be carried out.

Keywords

AmazoniaPeruMauritia flexuosabotanycultivationpests of plantsusesdomesticationproximate compositionmarketingstoragecarotenoidsAmazoniePérouMauritia flexuosabotaniquepratique culturaleravageur des plantesutilisationdomesticationcomposition globalecommer-cialisationstockagecaroténoïde
Type
Research Article
Information
Fruits , Volume 62 , Issue 3 , May 2007 , pp. 157 - 169
Copyright
© CIRAD, EDP Sciences, 2007

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