The cubiu (Solanum sessiliflorum Dunal) is a fruiting shrub domesticated by indians in Amazonia, and produces 40 to 100 t/ha of fruit rich in minerals and vitamins. The fruits are traditionally used for juices, ice-creams, sweets and in sauces for meat, chicken and fish. Thirteen chemical and morphological characters of 24 etnovarieties of cubiu from Brazilian, Peruvian and Colombian Amazonia were used to estimate the coefficients of phenotypic (r), genetic (rg) and environmental (rc) correlation between pairs of characters. In most cases, the genetic correlations were higher than the phenotypic and environmental correlations, indicating that the environment had less influence. Among the morphological characters, fruit dimensions were closely correlated with moisture. There were no correlations between morphological and chemical characters that could be useful in cubiu improvement. Among the chemical characters, the correlations between brix and acidity and reducing sugars and total sugars were high and positive (r = 0,62 and rg = 0,83, respectively). Thus, it will be difficult to simultaneously select for these without losing genotypes.
Orinoco apple; Solanaceae; Amazonian fruit; ethnovarieties; genotypes; genetic improvement