The physical and chemical characteristics of the fruits influence the consumer acceptance. The objective of this study was to perform the physical, physico-chemical and chemical characterization of fruits of accessions of bushy cashew (Anacardium humile A. St.-Hil.) (cashew nut and cashew apple) in a germplasm bank located in southwest of the state of Goiás, in Brazil, aiming at the selection of superior accessions, in order to facilitate the initiation of a program to encourage the production and consumption, for provide information for breeding programs and the specie preservation. This research study was conducted at the Laboratory of genetics and molecular biology with material collected in the Experimental Station of the Federal University of Jataí, within the biological ex situ collection of Anacardium humile, in the field of genetic resources. In the harvest of 2016, within this collection, they were evaluated accesses for the characteristics of the cashew apple: length, diameter of base, apex diameter, weight, instrumental coloration of the epidermis and pulp, titratable acidity (citric acid), vitamin C content (ascorbic acid) and carotenoid content; cashew nut were evaluated: length, width, thickness and weight. The results were submitted to descriptive analysis, obtaining average, minimum, maximum and variation coefficient and the correlation between the variables, testing the significance by the t test. Most of the accesses showed high CV for most of the variables, demonstrating high heterogeneity of the observed values. Cashew apples have high levels of vitamin C and carotenoids, indicating the nutritional potential of the specie.

Citrus fruit tree has great importance in Brazil. Despite having many commercial cultivars, the lemon crop in Brazil is basically from “Tahiti” cultivar and there is a lack of studies about the characterization and assay of genetic diversity of sweet lemon (Citrus limetta) fruits. Therefore, this work aimed to characterize and evaluate the genetic diversity from nine stock plants produced in Porto Nacional-TO. Fruits in fully physiologic ripening were harvested and evaluated for weight, length, diameter, juice yield, soluble solids content, and color of peel and pulp. The experimental design was completely randomized with 9 treatments (stock plants) and five replications. For the characterization, the data were subjected to Tukey’s test and similarity measure and clustering of the stock plants were performed by Tocher’s method and UPGMA dendrogram. Weight, length, and diameter of all stock plants have not differed from each other. The coordinate b* indicated that stock plant 1 had fruits with peel and pulp clear when compared to the yellow color of the other stock plants. There was genetic diversity between the assessed stock plants and three groups were created, which stock plant 1 and 2 were the most divergent and compose group 3, according to Tocher’s method. The features contributed similarly to total variation.

The Anacardium humile A. St.- Hil. fruit tree has productive potential, being their fruits appreciated in the Cerrado region for having characteristic flavor, however, this species is still exploited in an extractive way, being necessary studies for its domestication. The aim of this work was to estimate the leaf area of Anacardium humile. One hundred leaves were collected in the biological collection from a genetic resources field and evaluated for length, width and fresh weight, and scanned at resolution of 300 dpi to determine the leaf area with the aid of the ImageJ image analysis program. Subsequently, a leaf disc with a diameter of 22.27 mm was detached at the basal portion of each leaf, in which the fresh weight of the discs was obtained. Data were submitted to descriptive analysis and the relationship among the features explained by Pearson’s correlation with the software Rbio. The data were also subjected to regression analysis to explain the relationship between leaf area and measurements of width, length and leaf weight, and to fit the proper statistical model with the software Origin. It was concluded that leaf area can be determined by image analysis software and linear measurements are correlated to leaf area.

Morphological characterization of fruits, endocarp, seed and seedlings of cajá-manga (Spondias dulcis) 1The Cerrado biome has several species that can generate income, and the cajá-manga is one of these native species with great potential but with scarce information about its morphological characterization. Thus, this work aimed to characterize the fruit, endocarp, seeds, and seedlings of cajá-manga morphologically. The fruits were evaluated by the characteristics of the length, width, and diameter of the fruit, endocarp, and seeds, the number of loculi, and the weight of fruits and endocarp. The plantlets were evaluated for the number of seedlings per endocarp, number of leaflets, number of leaflets of the 3rd and 4th leaves, stem diameter, length of the shoot and root, root and shoot dry matter and data analyzed by descriptive analysis. The morphometric characteristics of the fruits, endocarp, and seeds were analyzed using the Scott-Knott test. The morphological characteristics of the fruits, the endocarps, the seeds, and the plantlets of cajá-manga varied within the mother plants. These results can be used as a basis for future selection of plants with desirable characteristics on breeding programs.

Researchs concerning peach rootstocks in Brazil have still not given response to the numerable requests for reduction of plant vigor, allowing a more condense plantation. Intergraft is a practice that can be used to reduce exceeding vigor, when rootstocks are not available to accomplish this purpose. Intending to evaluate the outcome of intergraft on fruit quality and productivity of peach trees, an experiment was set in 2002 in a didactic orchard at "Centro Agropecuário da Palma" of Universidade Federal de Pelotas" (Brazil). The cultivar 'Jubileu' was used intergrafted with 5, 10, 15 and 20 cm of the cultivar 'Granada' plus a control group (non-intergrafted trees). The rootstock 'Capdeboscq' was raised from seed germination. The intergraft and the scion cultivar were grafted onto the rootstock by budding technique in January and July 2001, respectively. The parameters evaluated at harvest time of the crop 2006 were: yield per hectare, average fruit weight, fruit firmness, total soluble solids, epidermis coloration and fruit grading. The average fruit weight and fruit grading were not meaningfully influenced by the different intergraft lengths. The yield per hectare, fruit firmness and total soluble solids were influenced by the different intergraft lengths. The 20-cm long intergraft showed the lowest yield per hectare. Trees with 20-cm long intergraft produced higher fruit firmness and total soluble solids. Both parameters could be represented by exponential functions: the fruit firmness had a minimum point at 7 cm and total soluble solids had a minimum point at 9.3 cm of intergraft length. The yield per hectare could be represented by a linear decreasing curve. The intergraft technique is positive for quality fruits for 'Jubileu' plants, without downside outcomes in the productivity and classification fruit.