CHARACTERIZATION OF MANGABEIRA TREES AND FRUITS IN THE SAVANNAH-RESTINGA TRANSITION ZONE/CARACTERIZACAO DE ARVORES E FRUTOS DE MANGABEIRA NA ZONA DE TRANSICAO CERRADO-RESTINGA

Brazil is the third largest fruit producer in the world, but many native fruits remain underexploited, as is the case for mangabeira (Hancornia speciosa Gomes). Little is known about general aspects of this species in its naturally occurring environment. Thus, this study aimed to characterize plant and fruit morphologies from native mangabeira selections in the Savannah-Restinga vegetation transition zone. The experiment was carried out in Patizal, Recanto and Recurso villages located in the Morros municipality, Maranhao State, dominated by extensive Savannah-Restinga vegetation transition zone with naturally occurring mangabeiras. Forty five mangabeira trees were randomly chosen from native selections in the three villages. Data collected were plant height, stem height, stem diameter, canopy volume, number of main and secondary branches and number of fruits. Twenty fruits were collected per plant to determine the mass, length and diameter, pulp and skin mass, pulp yield, seed number and seed mass. There was a high degree of variability for all assessed variables except for the pulp yield (average = 86.69%, minimum = 76.75% and maximum = 91.11%; CV= 3.51%). Significant and positive high magnitude correlations were noted among the variables of fruit mass and pulp mass plus skin with seed number (r=0,01; ρ [less than or equal to] 0,78 e ρ ≤ 0,74, respectively). Index terms: Hancornia speciosa Gomes, native selections, biometry. O Brasil e o terceiro maior produtor de frutas do mundo, porem muitas fruteiras nativas continuam subexploradas, como ocorre com a mangabeira (Hancornia speciosa Gomes). Pouco se conhece sobre os aspectos gerais da especie em seus ambientes de ocorrencia natural. Desta forma, objetivou-se caracterizar a morfologia da planta e do fruto de mangabeiras silvestres selecionadas em areas de ocorrencia natural da especie, em vegetacao de transicao entre o Cerrado e a Restinga. O experimento foi realizado no municipio de Morros-Maranhao, nos povoados Patizal, Recanto e Recurso, caracterizados por extensas areas de vegetacao de transicao: Cerrado e Restinga, com ocorrencia natural de mangabeira. Nos tres povoados, selecionaram-se 45 mangabeiras-matrizes, das quais se mensuraram a altura total, altura do fuste, diametro do caule, volume de copa, numero de ramos principais e secundarios, e numero de frutos. Coletaram-se 20 frutos por matriz e determinaram-se a massa, comprimento e diametro dos frutos, massa da polpa mais casca, rendimento de pol