Abstract
Camu-camu [Myrciaria dubia (Kunth) McVaugh] is currently an important and promising fruit species grown in the Peruvian Amazon, as well as in Brazil, Colombia, and Bolivia. The species is valued for its high content of fruit-based vitamin C. Large plantations have been established only in the last two decades, and a substantial part of the production is still obtained by collecting fruits from the wild. Domestication of the species is at an early stage; most farmers cultivate the plants without any breeding, or only through a simple mass selection process. The main objective of the study was to characterize morphological and genetic variation within and among cultivated and natural populations of camu-camu in the Peruvian Amazon. In total, we sampled 13 populations: ten wild in the Iquitos region, and three cultivated in the Pucallpa region in the Peruvian Amazon. To assess the genetic diversity using seven microsatellite loci, we analyzed samples from ten individual trees per each population (n = 126). Morphological data was collected from five trees from each population (n = 65). The analysis did not reveal statistically significant differences for most of the morphological descriptors. For wild and cultivated populations, the observed heterozygosity was 0.347 and 0.404 (expected 0.516 and 0.506), and the fixation index was 0.328 and 0.200, respectively. Wild populations could be divided into two groups according to the UPGMA and STRUCTURE analysis. In cultivated populations, their approximate origin was determined. Our findings indicate a high genetic diversity among the populations, but also a high degree of inbreeding within the populations. This can be explained by either the isolation of these populations from each other or the low number of individuals in some populations. This high level of genetic diversity can be explored for the selection of superior individuals for further breeding.
Highlights
The Amazonian tropical ecosystem is characterized by a high biodiversity of plant species, of which there are more than 150 edible fruit-bearing species used by the local population
The only significant difference we detected was the number of seeds per fruit, where the cultivated populations had a higher number of seeds per fruit. These results clearly show a low degree of domestication of M. dubia in the Peruvian Amazon
This study found a low morphological variability within and among wild and cultivated populations of M. dubia
Summary
The Amazonian tropical ecosystem is characterized by a high biodiversity of plant species (approx. 55,000 species), of which there are more than 150 edible fruit-bearing species used by the local population. Camu-camu [Myrciaria dubia (Kunth) McVaugh], a shrub or small tree from the family Myrtaceae, has become an economically important fruit species in the recent decades [1]. This species grows naturally in seasonally flooded areas along rivers and oxbow lakes in the Amazonian basin. The economic importance of this species lies in the high content of vitamin C in its cherry-like fruits, which is reported to be in the range from 877 to 3,133 mg per 100 g of pulp. Camu-camu can be considered one of the richest sources of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) of all plant species [2]. The fruits of the camu-camu have been collected from wild trees, while cultivation is relatively new and plantations established only in the last few decades [5]
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