ABSTRACT. Nationally known in Brazil, the jabuticabeira or jabuticaba tree produces fruits of wide commercial acceptance. However, little use of jabuticaba in commercial orchards and large genetic erosion of jabuticaba caused by human activities in its habitats have been historically observed. Thus, the goal of this study was to characterize fruits of the jabuticaba tree (Plinia cauliflora) in a forest fragment maintained in southwestern Paraná State in an attempt to identify trees with superior fruits for future selection as cultivars or male genitors. To this end, 15 variables linked to sensory and biochemical characteristics of harvested fruits were analysed during two years of production. Twenty percent of the genotypes that showed the highest frequency of superiority in the evaluated characteristics were preselected for analysis. The quality of the analysed fruits indicated their potential for use. Thus, this work resulted in the preselection of jabuticaba genotypes 7, 42, 43, 47, 54, 91, 97, 104, 105, 118, 134, 153, 154, 157, 163, 169, 177, 186, 212, J7-01, and J7-02, with 16 and 194 the only genotypes that had already been selected for superior characteristics during both growing cycles.Keywords: Myrtaceae, phenotypic variability, biochemical characteristics. Aspectos de qualidade sensorial e nutracêutica de frutos de Plinia caulifloraRESUMO. Nacionalmente conhecida, a jabuticabeira possui frutos de ampla aceitação comercial. Todavia, o que se viu historicamente foi a pouca utilização da mesma em pomares comerciais e a ampla erosão genética ocorrida pela ação antrópica em seus habitats. Dessa forma, o objetivo deste trabalho foi caracterizar frutos de jabuticabeiras (P. cauliflora) de fragmento florestal mantido no sudoeste do Estado do Paraná, buscando-se identificar aquelas denominadas superiores para seleção como futuro cultivar ou genitor masculino. Para tal, foram analisadas 15 variáveis ligadas as características sensoriais e bioquímicas que os frutos colhidos apresentaram durante dois anos de produção. Como critério de pré-seleção foi adotada a escolha de 20% dos genótipos que apresentaram a maior frequência de superioridade nas características avaliadas. A qualidade das frutas analisadas demonstrou potencialidade para uso. Dessa forma, o presente trabalho permitiu pré-selecionar as jabuticabeiras 7, 42, 43, 47, 54, 91, 97, 104, 105, 118, 134, 153, 154, 157, 163, 169, 177, 186, 212, J7-01 e J7-02, sendo a 16 e 194 as únicas que já podem ser selecionadas pelas características de superioridade entre ambos ciclos.Palavras-chave: Myrtaceae, variabilidade fenotípica, características bioquímicas.

Jaboticaba is a fruit specie widely known in Brazil, with wide commercial acceptance, however it is observed genetic erosion by anthropic action in their habitat. Thus, the objective of this study was to estimate the genetic divergence between native jaboticaba trees, based on physico-chemical characters, as a complementary tool to identify superior genotypes for selection as future cultivar or male parent. To this end, 15 variables were analyzed, linked to physical-chemical and biochemical characteristics of fruits that were harvested in two productive cycles. As a pre-selection, it was adopted the choose of 20% better genotypes that showed the highest frequency of superiority in evaluated characteristics and through genetic divergence select potential parents with their respective subsidiaries hybridizations. The characteristic that has contributed most to the genetic divergence was the equatorial diameter, explaining much of the total variation, thus being the most important component. There were differences among the populations grouped by Tocher method with those obtained with the dendrogram the nearest neighbor clustering method in relation to jaboticabeira plant groups. There was genetic variability among the analyzed jabuticabeira trees, and thus, it is recommended performing hybridization between genotypes 79 with 119 and 96 with 148.