Physical and chemical characterization of fruits and dna content in genotypes of acerola tree

Abstract

The present study investigated agronomic characteristics of nine genotypes of acerola tree, as well as determined the DNA content of these plants. Sixty fruits from each genotype were harvested at physiological maturity and evaluated in relation to physical and physical-chemical characteristics. The data were submitted to descriptive and multivariate analyses. The characteristics of genotypes were clustered according to the dissimilarity, using the Hierarchical Method of Nearest Neighbor and the Tocher Optimization Method. The results revealed differences between the genotypes, and separated them into four groups. The analysis of DNA content was performed by the genotypes flow cytometry. Three samples of each genotype along with the internal reference standard (pea) were prepared and then 10.000 cores on a logarithmic scale were analyzed. The genotypes tested, in relation to the DNA content, can be separated into two groups. Finally, it was concluded that there is little correlation between citometry and characterization of acerola fruits.