Domestication of Euterpe oleracea (Arecaceae) to provide food from peatlands

Abstract

Euterpe oleracea (Arecaceae), which is known as Acai, is a palm tree originating from swampy forest of Suriname. Acai is naturally distributed in swampy, sandy soil, river edges and seasonally flooded habitats; hence it is considered as paludiculture species. Acai’s domestication study in Indonesia is limited, therefore our study aimed to assess morphology and germination of Acai’s seeds in the nursery, and early growth performance in the field. Acai’s seed diameter was ranging from 0.88±0.01 cm; seed wet weight was 1.19±0.31 g. Acai seeds germinated for up to 5-7 months. Soaked seeds in warm water overnight had 8.33% germination rate, while soaked seeds in tap water overnight had lesser germination rates (1.75%). After one year transplanted to a peat swamp forest ecosystem of Tumbang Nusa, Central Kalimantan, Acai’s seedlings had 100% survival rate. The relative growth rate of height and diameter of Acai seedlings were 4.21 cm month−1 and 0.08 cm month−1, respectively. Acai seedlings survived floodings that occurred in November 2021 to March 2022. The water level was around -35.6 to 17.7 cm. Despite of some challenging, açai is a promising species to be domesticated on degraded peatlands.