Fruit ontogeny of Garcinia gardneriana (Planch. & Triana) Zappi (Clusiaceae)

Abstract

Garcinia gardneriana (Clusiaceae) is a small to medium-sized tree that usually occurs on the floodplains of the Paraná River and it is an important food source for the local inhabitants. The fruit itself is consumed in natura, and juices and sweets are made from it. The purpose of this study was to describe morphological and structural aspects of fruits and seeds of this species in order to classify the fruit type and the pulpy layer which involves the seeds. The material analyzed consisted of ovary and fruits in different stages of development, collected from five plants from Aurélio Island, Baía River (MS, BR) and the description was done according to standard procedures in anatomy. The fruit is a yellowish-orange spherical berry ("bacóide" type). The smooth, coriaceous skin consists of the lignified exocarp. The endocarp cell layers are derived from the activity of an adaxial meristem that undergoes radial elongation. The edible sweet white pulp is formed by the endocarp, as well as the spongy mesocarp, in which the secretory ducts lose their function. The unitegmic anatropous ovules develop into anatropous exalbuminous seeds with a collapsed and undifferentiated testa. The embryo is hypocotylar. The features here described generally occur in Clusioideae-Garcinieae and Symphonieae.

Evaluation of antimicrobial and antitumoral activity of Garcinia mangostana L. (mangosteen) grown in Southeast Brazil

“…Malignant melanoma is a cancer with a high incidence, Asinelli et al 16 in his work on the ontogeny of Garcinia gardneriana species found in southern Brazil, observed numerous secretory ducts and vascular bundles in the ovarian mesophyll, so that the diameter of the ducts increased from the periphery to the center noted that the changes anatomical suffered by this species as an adjuvant chemotherapeutic agent 11,21 . Especially considering the antitumoral activity, this fruit can have a major role in the anticancer therapy 11,22 .…”

The great diversity in kinds of seed dormancy: a revision of the Nikolaeva–Baskin classification system for primary seed dormancy

“…Garcinia is a genus of around 250-260 species of shrubs and trees that is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical areas of the world (Stevens, 2007;Mabberley, 2008;Sweeney, 2008). The embryo consists primarily of a massive hypocotyl ('hypocotyle tubercle' of Sprecher, 1919) with a central vascular cylinder (procambial strand) and meristematic tissue at the two poles of the seed; no endosperm is present and cotyledons are absent or rudimentary (Sprecher, 1919;de Vogel, 1979de Vogel, , 1980Onyekwelu, 1987;Joshi et al, 2006;Asinelli et al, 2011;Cardoso et al, 2013;Noor et al, 2016). During germination, the meristematic tissue produces a primary root at one end of the seed and a shoot at the other end.…”

Medicinal Potential of Garcinia Species and Their Compounds

“…The fruit peel (or epicarp) is smooth and coriaceous. The pulp is white, edible, and sour-sweetish, formed by the mesocarp and endocarp [ 52 , 54 ]. A study on its fruits identified two phytosterols—sitosterol and stigmasterol—which have already presented anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities in other studies, with the isolation of these compounds achieved in fruits of the genus Garcinia [ 37 , 52 ].…”