Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-16T13:26:02.770Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mauritia flexuosa (Arecaceae: Calamoideae), an Amazonian palm with cultivation purposes in Peru

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2007

Cesar Delgado ,
Guy Couturier  and
Kember Mejia
Cesar Delgado
Affiliation:
Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana, Pbio, Avenida Abelardo Quiñones, km 2,5, Apartado 784, Iquitos, Perou
Guy Couturier
Affiliation:
Museum national d’Histoire naturelle, Département systématique et évolution, case 50, Antenne IRD, Entomologie, 57, rue Cuvier, 75231 Paris Cedex 05
Kember Mejia
Affiliation:
Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana, Pbio, Avenida Abelardo Quiñones, km 2,5, Apartado 784, Iquitos, Perou
Get access

Abstract

The plant. The aguaje (Mauritia flexuosa L. f.) is an Amazonian palm which grows naturally on flooded soils, forming dense gatherings called aguajales in Peru. It can reach a height of 35–40 m. Each tree has an average of 8 inflorescences per year and each inflorescence produces about 900 fruits. This palm is in the domestication process. A dwarf form, recently discovered, could permit the improvement of the methods of production. The fruit. The fruit is an ellipsoid oval-shaped drupe, covered by red or dark red-coloured cornea scales. It measures (5 to 7) cm long and (4 to 5) cm in diameter. The pulp has a high content of β-carotene (260 mg·100 g–1 of pulp). Marketing. Marketing is carried out for fruits coming from the natural environment. There is a local consumption of approximately 150 t·month–1 and it can be of raw or processed fruit. For this fruit’s demand, it is necessary to cut down approximately 24 000 palms a year. Discussion. The aguaje has big social and economical importance to these regions' inhabitants. It represents great potential for the national as well as the international market. The Research Institute of the Peruvian Amazon (IIAP) is devel-oping technologies for agronomical management of the species, and for production and proc-essing of the fruit. Studies on aguaje growth and genetic diversity in the natural conditions also have to be carried out.

Keywords

AmazoniaPeruMauritia flexuosabotanycultivationpests of plantsusesdomesticationproximate compositionmarketingstoragecarotenoidsAmazoniePérouMauritia flexuosabotaniquepratique culturaleravageur des plantesutilisationdomesticationcomposition globalecommer-cialisationstockagecaroténoïde
Type
Research Article
Information
Fruits , Volume 62 , Issue 3 , May 2007 , pp. 157 - 169
Copyright
© CIRAD, EDP Sciences, 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Henderson A., Galeano G., Bernal R., Field guide of the palms of the Americas, Princeton Univ. Press, New Jersey, USA, 1995.
Ruiz J., Alimentos del bosque Amazónico: una alternativa para la protección de los bosques tropicales, UNESCO, Montevideo, Uruguay, 1993.
Moussa, F., Kahn, F., Trois palmiers pour trois capitales amazoniennes, Bull. Inst. Fr. Études Andin. 26 (1) (1997) 1–9.
Lognay, G., Trevejo, E., Jordan, E., Marller, M., Sevedo, M., Ortiz, I., Investigaciones sobre el aceite de Mauritia flexuosa L., Grasas Aceites 38 (5) (1987) 303–307.
Anon., Use of remote sensing systems for evaluating the potential of the Aguaje Palm in the Peruvian jungle, Oficina Nac. Recur. Nat. (ONERN), Lima, Perú, 1977.
Kahn, F., Mejia, K., Las palmeras nativas de importancia económica en la Amazonía Peruana, Folia Amazon. 3 (1) (1988) 49–59.
Valdivia G., Variación de la densidad poblacional de Mauritia flexuosa L. f. “aguaje” según asociaciones florísticas en la quebrada Yanayacu – río Marañón, Univ. Amazon. Peru., thesis, Iquitos, Perú, 1995, 78 p.
Penn J.W., The aguaje palm (Mauritia flexuosa L. f.): examining its role as an agroforestry species in a community conservation project, Univ. Fla., thesis, Gainesville, USA, 1999, 114 p.
Ervik F., Notes on the phenology and pollination of the dioecious palms Mauritia flexuosa (Calamoideae) and Aphandra natalia (Phytelephantoideae) in Ecuador, in: Barthott W., Naumann C.M., Schmidt-Loske K., Schumann K.L. (Eds.), Annu. Meet. Ger. Soc. Trop. Ecol., Bonn, Germany, 1992, pp. 13–16.
Uhl N.W., Dransfield J., Genera palmarum. a classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore Jr., L.H. Bailey Hortorum & Int. Palm Soc., Lawrence, Kansas, USA, 1987.
Storti, E.F., Biologia floral de Mauritia flexuosa L. f., na região de Manaus, AM, Brasil, Acta Amazon. 23 (4) (1993) 371–381. CrossRef
Miranda I.P.A., Rabelo A., Bueno R.C., Barbosa E.M., Ribeiro M.N.S., Frutos de palmeiras da Amazonia, MCT-INPA, Manaus, Brasil, 2001.
Villachica H., Frutales y hortalizas promisorias de la Amazonía, TCA, Lima, Perú, 1996.
Kahn, F., Palm brief, a distichous Mauritia flexuosa, Princ. 32 (2) (1988) 88.
Delgado, C., Couturier, G., Relationship between Mauritia flexuosa and Eupalamides cyparissias in the Peruvian Amazon, Palms 47 (2) (2003) 104–106.
Kahn F., Moussa F., Las palmeras del Perú, Inst. Fr. Estad. Andin., IFEA, Lima, Perú, 1994.
Brako L., Zarucchi L.J., Catalogue of the flowering plants and gymnosperms of Peru, Mo. Bot. Gard., St. Louis, Missouri, USA, 1993.
Padoch, C., Aguaje (Mauritia flexuosa L. f.) in the economy of Iquitos, Peru, Adv. Econom. Bot. 6 (1986) 214–224.
Flores P.S., Cultivo de frutales nativos amazónicos, manual para el extencionista, TCA, Lima, Perú, 1997.
Costa, L.A.A., Couturier, G., Mirideos neotropicais : revisão do gênero Alvarengamiris Carvalho e duas especies novas descritas (Heteroptera Miridae Phylinae), Rev. Fr. Entomol. (N.S.) 24 (4) (2002) 183–191.
Rojas R., Ruiz G., Ramírez P., Salazar C.F., Rengifo C., Llerena Ch., Marín C., Torres D., Ojanama J., Silvano W., Muñoz V., Luque H., Vela N., Del Castillo N., Solignac J., López V.R., Pandúro F.M., Comercialización de masa y “fruto verde” de aguaje (Mauritia flexuosa L. f.) en Iquitos (Perú), Folia Amazon. 12 (1/2) (2001) 15–38.
Aguiar, J.P.L., Marinho, H.A., Rebelo, Y.S., Shrimpton, R., Aspectos nutritivos de alguns frutos da Amazonia, Acta Amazon. 10 (4) (1980) 755–758. CrossRef
Ferreira, L., Reber, G., Meireles, M.A.A., Machado, N.T., Brunner, G., Supercritical extraction of carotenoids and lipids from buriti (Mauritia flexuosa), a fruit from the Amazon region, J. Supercrit. Fluids 14 (1999) 247–256. CrossRef
Yuyama, L.K.O., Yonekura, L., Aguiar, J.P.L., Sousa, R.F.S., Biodisponibilidade dos carotenoides do Buriti (Mauritia flexuosa L.) em ratos, Acta Amazon. 28 (4) (1998) 409–415. CrossRef
Mejia, K., Utilization of palms in eleven mestizo villages of the Peruvian Amazon (Ucayali River, Department of Loreto), Adv. Econom. Bot. 6 (1986) 130–136.
Rojas R., Salazar C.F., Llerena C., Rengifo C., Ojanama J., Muños V., Luque H., Solignac J., Torres D., Pandúro F.M., Industrialización primaria del aguaje (Mauritia flexuosa L. f.) en Iquitos (Perú), Folia Amazon. 12 (1/2) (2001) 107–121.
Mejia K., Kahn F., Luna S., Manejo de aguaje. Inf. interno, conv. IIAP/ORSTOM, Iquitos, Peru, 1994, 15 p.