The cocoa and chocolate production chain involves US$60 billion annually and three million farmers around the world, in an area exceeding nine million hectares. The use of wild germplasm will enable to generate new disease- and pest-resistant cultivars and ability to adapt to changing environments. Here we evaluated 145 cocoa accessions, originated from nine Amazonian basins, based on eight fruit traits. Univariate anova showed significant differences (p<0.05) for all traits. For seven traits, the variance component within basins was higher (81.5%, on average). Therefore, it is recommended that the collection of wild accessions prioritize a larger number of plants from a few populations of the most divergent basins. The multivariate analyses revealed a greater divergence between the Ji-Paraná-RO and Solimões/Amazonas-PA basins (27.69) and a greater similarity between Alien clones-PER and Solimões/Amazonas-AM (0.66) in relation to their populations. They also revealed that the accessions differentiation occurred according to the river basin system. These results allowed elucidate the genetic structure and distribution of cacao populations. In addition, strengthen the importance of collecting and conserving germplasm to preserve genetic resources.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.