Agronomic characterization and antioxidant potential of fruit from clones of the acerola plant

Acerola is a tropical fruit with great agronomic and nutritional potential. Vegetative propagation of acerola plant can be an advantage for a quick selection of superior clones. With the objective of evaluating acerola clones regarding their agronomic characteristics and antioxidant capacity of their fruit, an experiment was set up in a randomised-block design with 25 treatments consisting of three replicates with three plants per plot at the Experimental Station in Paraipaba-Ceará. For three years the following characteristics were evaluated: plant height, crown diameter and yield and as post-harvest parameters of the fruit, enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants. The data shows the pattern of vertical growth displayed by the clones is resultant of a selection carried out with the progeny of two cycles. Among the studied clones, 23/2 (3), 79/10 (9) and 26/5 (4) presented good yield and vitamin C content and therefore, have potential for the industrial extraction of vitamin C, while 20/4 (8) has good yield and vegetative growth besides a high antioxidant enzymatic activity, thereby showing good potential for in natura market.