Caracterização morfológica e química de frutos de cambucizeiro

Abstract

The cambuci fruit tree (Campomanesia phaea), belonging to the Myrtaceae family, is a native tree from the Atlantic Forests. The description of the fruits of cambuci fruit tree is important to support new plant breeding researches and trades exploitation, especially regarding the fruit processing. This study aimed to carry out the morphological and chemical characterization of the fruits of cambuci fruit tree. Fifty-eight accessions, from different places of Atlantic Forests and Serra do Mar, were collected and propagated by seed. A sample of each accession is maintained at Núcleo de Produção de Mudas de São Bento do Sapucaí (SP). Forty fruits of each accession were collected in May and submitted to the following analysis: longitudinal and transverse diameters, total fruit fresh mass, number and mass of the seeds, total soluble solids, % of citric acid, ratio, firmness, vitamin C and color. The similarity of fruits is highly variable between all accessions. The number of seeds is not a good indicator to the ratio with fruit mass; however, the mass of thousand seeds is a good indicator. Some accessions have high content of soluble solids, but most of the fruits showed high acidity. The cambuci fruit is an excellent source of vitamin C. The accession fruits have green color, persisting an opaque hue in ripe fruits.