Caracterização morfológica de frutos de mangabeira (Hancornia speciosa gomes) sob vegetação de transição cerrado e restinga

Brazil is the third largest producer of fruit in the world, but many native fruit trees remain underexploited,as occurs with the mangabeira (Hancornia speciosa Gomes). Little is known aboutthe general aspects of the specie in its naturally occurring environment. In this way, the objectivewas to characterize the biometry of wild mangabeiras fruits selected in areas of naturaloccurrence of the specie in transition vegetation cerrado and restinga. The work occurred inthe municipality of Morros-Maranhao in villages Patizal, Recanto and Recurso, characterizedby extensive areas of transition vegetation cerrado and restinga, with naturally occurring ofmangabeira. In each village, 15 maturing plants were selected, from which 20 fruits were collectedfrom the soil to determine the mass, length and diameter of fruits, pulp mass plus peel,pulp yield, number and mass of seeds. There was a high degree of variability for all variablesstudied, except for pulp yield (86.69% on an average, minimum of 76.75% and maximum of91.11%, CV% of 3.51). The high pulp yield of mangaba fruits in Maranhao suggests the potential for industrialization and an alternative source of income for traditional populations thatsurvive as mangaba pickers.