Variabilidad morfológica de chicozapote de Nayarit, México

The chicozapote is an introduced species in the state of Nayarit, and given that, the dissemination of species outside of their originary region contributes to species diversification, this research was conducted with the purpose of knowing the morphologic variability of chicozapote trees of Nayarit, México and identifying outstanding materials for fruit production. Field trips around the State were carried out, and 55 trees were located and characterized. Morphologic and agronomic variables were registered. The data analysis used descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, principal components analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis. Morphological variability is present in chicozapote materials of Nayarit. In the analysis of principal components, the first three components explained 79.13% of the total morphological variability, and the variables that determined it were: equatorial and longitudinal fruit diameter, weight of fruit and pulp, width of leaf and weight of seed. The cluster analysis differentiated five groups, and inside of the groups, variability that allowed differentiating subgroups was present. The groups were not separated by municipality in the dendrogram. Morphological variability exists among the chicozapote materials of Nayarit. Some of the materials identified have potential to be used for fruit production, thick shell, long post-harvest life and seedless fruits that could be evaluated for organoleptic properties. The trees that produce parthenocarpic fruit could be used for studies about the reproductive biology of chicozapote. Resumen: El chicozapote es una especie introducida en el estado de Nayarit y, dado que, la diseminación fuera de su región de origen contribuye a la diversificación de las especies, el objetivo de esta investigación fue conocer la variabilidad morfológica en árboles de chicozapote de Nayarit, México, e identificar materiales sobresalientes para producción de fruta. Se realizaron recorridos de campo, se ubicaron y caracterizaron 55 árboles. Se tomaron variables morfológicas y agronómicas. Se realizó estadística descriptiva, análisis de correlación, componentes principales y análisis de conglomerados jerárquicos. Se encontró variabilidad entre los árboles de chicozapote. En el análisis de componentes principales los tres primeros componentes explicaron el 79.13% de la variabilidad morfológica total, las variables que los determinaron fueron: diámetro ecuatorial y longitudinal del fruto, peso del fruto y pes