Potencial da Acrocomia Aculeata no Desenvolvimento Endógeno da Região de Cuiabá, Brasil

Resumo

The edaphoclimatic conditions favor the reproduction of the bocaiuva's palm (A. aculeata) in the Metropolitan Region of the Cuiabá River Valley (in Portuguese, Região Metropolitana do Vale do Rio Cuiabá - RMVRC), and the local culture of consumption of its fruit, place it as a natural resource to the process of endogenous development of RMVRC. Aiming to verify this potential, the population of native A. aculeata and its cultivation potential were estimated, as well as identifying the nutritional benefits and the chemical characteristics currently exploited in the main consumer center of the region. The estimation was possible through the parameters (Lorenzi, 2006; Pimentel et al., 2009; Corá, Urbanetz e Salis, 2013) for the region. Traders of the fruit and its derivatives were interviewed. As a result, there is an estimated annual production of 38.7 billion fruits from native palms, and 224.3 billion annual fruits from cultivation. Though the estimations indicate the viability of the profiteering, only five business establishments trade the fruit and its derivatives in Cuiabá, indicating that the potentiality of the fruit, although existing, is not fully exploited.