The objective of this work was to evaluate physical and chemical-nutritional characteristics of fruits from six pequi populations of natural occurrence in the states of Maranhão and Piauí (Mid-North region of Brazil). Fruits were collected at the maturity stage (fruits lying on the ground), at the harvest of 2008. The following fruit physical characteristics were analyzed: average mass, peel average mass, stone average mass, kernel average mass, pulp percentage, fruit length/fruit mean diameter ratio, stone length/stone mean diameter ratio, kernel length/kernel mean diameter ratio and peel average thickness. In the pulp and kernel were analyzed the following chemical-nutritional characteristics: moisture, fat, crude protein, crude fiber, ash, total carbohydrates, energy and minerals (P, K, Ca, Mg, Mn, Cu, Zn and Fe). The data were submitted to the variance analysis and population means were compared by Scott-Knott grouping test at 5%. It was observed a high phenotypic variability among populations for most analyzed traits. Both pulp and kernel are rich in nutritional terms, being the kernel, however, much richer. On average, the population of Alto Longá, from Piauí State, is a promising source of variability for most physical and chemical-nutritional characters studied.
Native fruit tree; Caryocar coriaceum; genetic resources; phenotypic variability
