Adequate timing for heart-of-palm harvesting in King palm

Abstract

Heart-of-palm, palm heart, or "palmito" can be considered as a non-conventional vegetable, largely consumed in Brazil and exported to more than sixty countries. Timing of heart-of-palm harvesting is a critical issue in palmito agribusiness, since it affects yield, quality and costs. A three-year field experiment was utilized to identify the correct timing for king palm heart-of-palm harvesting, from the standpoint of maximizing yield and minimizing growing period. The experimental site was located at Pariqueraçu, Vale do Ribeira, a region where palmito agribusiness has increased recently, due to adequate climatic conditions, low costs and high industry demand. Crop was grown in 2 x 0.75 m spacing, utilizing six-month old seedlings. Growth was assessed periodically by measuring plant diameter and height (from soil level to insertion of leaf spear), as well as leaf number and size. Harvest was done, from 36 to 40 months after planting date. The results showed high plant variability, a common feature in palm. In spite of genetic variability, the adequate timing for start heart-of-palm harvesting (considering plant growth rate, yield, quality and market type), was reached when palms were 80 to 115 cm (small diameter) and 200 to 300 cm tall (large diameter). The time to attain those heights varies widely among plants and growing conditions. In this experiment, harvesting could be started at 22 months after planting.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculation increases biomass of Euterpe edulis and Archontophoenix alexandrae after two years under field conditions

“…& Drude, (King palm) is being grown to replace E. edulis for the palm heart production. This species also has only one stem, grows at a rate of 1.0 m/year (Lorenzi et al, 2004) and the palm heart is harvestable after 3 years if grown under appropriate conditions (Bovi et al, 2001). This species has been widely used in southern Brazil for palm heart production, especially in the coastal region of Santa Catarina, where E.edulis is considered a threatened species (Lorenzi et al, 2004).…”

Genetic analysis for sooty mold resistance and heart of palm yield in Archontophoenix

“…The p i values were determined considering the phenotypic correlation of these three traits with heart of palm production, as provided by Bovi et al (2001a) The effective population size (N e ) associated to selection in the breeding population was calculated by the following formula (Resende, 2002):…”

“…They are precocious, easily cultivated palm trees (Bovi et al, 2001a) and have higher survival rate than Euterpe edulis Mart., a traditional heart of palm plant, largely and predatorily exploited in Bra-zilian natural forests (Orlande et al, 1996;Galetti & Fernandez, 1998). The two main species of Archontophoenix (A. alexandrae Wendl.…”

ARMAZENAMENTO DE SEMENTES DE Archontophoenix cunninghamii H. Wendl. & Drude (PALMEIRA REAL AUSTRALIANA)

“…Pesquisas mostraram que a palmeira real australiana possui elevado potencial para produção de palmito de qualidade e atestam a viabilidade de seu cultivo (Berbari et al, 2003;Bovi et al, 2003). A produção de palmito nas espécies do gênero pode ser feita já a partir de 22 meses após seu plantio no campo, desde que cultivadas em regiões aptas e com adubação apropriada (Bovi et al, 2001;Chaimsohn, 2001). Não obstante a importância da palmeira real australiana, tanto como ornamental quanto como produtora de palmito de qualidade, são escassos os trabalhos científicos com esse gênero.…”