Native Fruit Tree Improvement in Amazonia: An Overview - Indigenous Fruit Trees in the Tropics: Domestication, Utilization and Commercialization - page 111

develop an expressed sequence tag (EST) database that could be used to
identify the genes involved in ascorbic acid synthesis, as well as other
biotechnologically interesting compounds. Numerous ESTs associated with
ascorbic acid synthesis and degradation were identified (Silva, 2006), although
the full synthesis pathway is still incomplete. ESTs associated with anthocyanin
synthesis, oxidative stress and transcription factors were also identified. The
same study identified numerous EST microsatellites (SSRs) that are currently
being used to examine genetic diversity in the INPA collections and progeny
trials. A set of nuclear SSRs is also being developed, since these tend to be
more variable than EST-SSRs. The INPA group expects to have a full analysis
of genetic diversity throughout the Amazon Basin by 2008.
An ideotype similar to the Peruvian ideotype is used to identify elite plants
in the progeny trials and collections. These are now being hybridized in a diallel
design to examine the general and specific combining abilities for ascorbic acid
production, fruit yield, precocity and plant architecture. Hybrids are also being
offered to local farmers, but few are yet convinced that camu-camu will be
economically viable in orchards on the non-flooding plateaus of Brazilian
Amazonia.
EXPECTED IMPACTS IN BRAZIL Interest in camu-camu as a functional food
continues to expand in Europe, Japan and the USA (Yuyama et al ., 2002,
2003; Rodrigues et al ., 2006). None the less, interest in cultivating camu-camu
in central Amazonia has been minimal to date. An attempt to develop a
participatory improvement programme near Manaus was not funded because
of lack of demonstrable farmer interest. As the information on the nutritional
qualities of camu-camu accumulate, however, increasing interest is being
expressed in São Paulo State and camu-camu may be the next Amazonian fruit
to migrate out of the region. Although some plantings already exist, at Iguape,
São Paulo, for example, they are based on an extremely narrow genetic base
and a new pest has already appeared to exploit this. Without expanding the
genetic base via the Amazonian collections and improvement programmes,
expansion outside of Amazonia may be slower than with other species that are
more pest-resistant or have more ample genetic bases to start from.
6.4 Final Thoughts
Even though there is considerable R&D, new and underutilized fruits are
seldom institutional priorities. This is partly because public institutions are
continuously and seriously underfunded in Latin America and partly because
the underfunding causes priorities to be established around export crops.
Perhaps worse than the lack of R&D is the fact that underutilized fruits are often
socially and cultural marginalized; a tendency that seems to be increasing.
Media attention usually focuses on exotics, both as examples of successful
exports and as raw materials for international cuisine. Furthermore, schools
rarely teach about native species, even in rural areas. Authors who have never
seen a native Amazonian cupuaçu or abiu, but who are quite familiar with