Table Of ContentPromotingtheconservationanduseofunderutilizedandneglectedcrops.20.
Kunth
Bactris gasipaes
ora-Urpiy
JohnC.Weberand
CharlesR.Clement
.
Peachpalm.BactrisgasipaesKunth
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Citation:
Mora-Urpi,Jorge,JohnC.WeberandCharlesR.Clement.1997.Peachpalm.Bactris
gasipaesKunth.Promotingtheconservationanduseofunderutilizedandneglectedcrops.
20.InstituteofPlantGeneticsandCropPlantResearch,Gatersleben/ InternationalPlant
GeneticResourcesInstitute,Rome,Italy.
ISBN 92-9043-347-7
IPGRI IPK
ViadelleSetteChiese 142 Corrensstrasse 3
00145Rome 06466 Gatersleben
Italy Germany
© InternationalPlant Genetic Resources Institute, 1997
Promotingtheconservationanduseofunderutilizedandneglectedcrops.20. 3
Contents
Foreword 5
Acknowledgements 6
1 Tntmdnotion 7
2 Taxonomy,nomenclature and geographical distribution 8
2.1 Taxonomy 8
2.2 Botanicaland vernacularnames 10
2.3 Geographicaldistribution 10
3 Description ofthe cultivated species 12
3.1 Morphologicaldescription 12
3.2 Ecology 14
3.3 Developmentofthestem and inflorescence 16
3.4 Reproductivebiology 17
4 Usesand properi;ies 20
4.1 Traditionalfood products 20
4.2 Currentfood products and theirproperties 20
4.3 Minorproducts 24
5 Origin and domestication 26
6 Geneticresources 28
6.1 Diversity among and within landraces 28
6.2 Existinggermplasm banks 30
6.3 Usefulandunusualphenotypes 32
6.4 Geneticerosion 33
6.5 Germplasm collecting and conservation 33
7 Geneticimprovementstrategies 36
8 Propagation 39
8.1 Pollen collecting,handling and controlledpollination 39
8.2 Seed 40
8.3 Asexualpropagation 42
9 Agronomyoffruitand heart-of-palmproduction 44
9.1 Fruit:planting density and pruning 44
9.2 Fruit:mineral nutrition 44
9.3 Fruit:harvestand post-harvesthandling 45
9.4 Heart-of-palm:planting density and pruning 46
9.5 Heart-of-palm: mineralnutrition 49
9.6 Heart-of-palm: harvestand post-harvesthandling 52
9.7 Pests and pathogens 54
10 Production areas and commercialpotential 58
10.1 Fruit 58
10.2 Heart-of-palm 59
11 Limitationsandprospects ofthecrops 61
12 Futureresearchneeds 63
Copyf>ghiedmaierial
Peachpalm.BactrisgasipaesKunth
References 66
AppendixI.Institutions and scientists managing
germplasm banksandconductingresearchonpeachpalm 78
Copyrightedmaterial
Promotingtheconservationanduseofunderutilizedandneglectedcrops.20. 5
Foreword
Humanityreliesonadiverserangeofcultivatedspecies;atleast6000suchspeciesare
usedforavarietyofpurposes. Itisoftenstatedthatonlyafewstaplecropsproduce
themajorityofthefoodsupply. Thismightbecorrectbuttheimportantcontribution
ofmany minor species should notbe underestimated. Agricultural research has
traditionallyfocusedonthesestaples,whilerelativelylittleattentionhasbeengiven
tominor(orunderutilizedorneglected)crops,particularlybyscientistsindeveloped
countries. Suchcropshave,therefore,generallyfailed toattractsignificantresearch
funding. Unlikemoststaples,manyoftheseneglectedspeciesareadaptedtovarious
marginalgrowingconditionssuchasthoseoftheAndeanandHimalayanhighlands,
aridareas,salt-affectedsoils,etc. Furthermore,manycropsconsideredneglected at
agloballevelarestaplesatanationalorregionallevel(e.g.tef,fonio,Andeanroots
and tubers, etc.), contribute considerably to food supply in certain periods (e.g.
indigenousfruittrees)or are importantfor anutritionally well-balanced diet(e.g.
indigenousvegetables). Thelimitedinformationavailableonmanyimportantand
frequently basic aspects of neglected and underutilized crops hinders their
developmentand theirsustainableconservation. Onemajorfactorhamperingthis
developmentis thattheinformation available on germplasm is scattered and not
readily accessible, i.e. only found in 'grey literature' or written in little-known
languages. Moreover,existingknowledgeonthegeneticpotentialofneglectedcrops
islimited. Thishasresulted,frequently,inuncoordinatedresearcheffortsformost
neglected crops, as well as in inefficient approaches to the conservation ofthese
geneticresources.
This series ofmonographs intends to draw attention to anumber ofspecies
which have been neglected in a varying degree by researchers or have been
underutilized economically. It is hoped that the information compiled will
contributeto:(1)identifyingconstraintsinandpossiblesolutionstotheuseofthe
crops, (2)identifying possible untapped geneticdiversity forbreeding and crop
improvementprogrammesand(3)detectingexistinggapsinavailableconservation
and use approaches. This series intends to contribute to improvement of the
potential value of these crops through increased use of the available genetic
diversity. In addition,itishoped thatthe monographs in the series willform a
valuablereferencesourceforallthosescientistsinvolvedinconservation,research,
improvementand promotion ofthesecrops.
ThisseriesistheresultofajointprojectbetweentheInternationalPlantGenetic
Resources Institute (IPGRI) and the Institute ofPlant Genetics and Crop Plant
Research (IPK). Financialsupportprovided bytheFederalMinistryofEconomic
CooperationandDevelopment(BMZ)ofGermanythroughtheGermanAgencyfor
TechnicalCooperation (GTZ) is duly acknowledged.
Serieseditors:
DrJoachim Heller,InstituteofPlantGeneticsand Crop PlantResearch (IPK)
DrJan Engels,InternationalPlantGeneticResources Institute (IPGRI)
Prof.DrKarlHammer,InstituteofPlantGeneticsand Crop PlantResearch (IPK)
CopyrigNedmalarial
Peachpalm.BactrisgasipaesKunth
Acknowledgements
The authors are indebted to Dr Joachim Heller from IPGRI for his interest,
assistanceand critiquewhilethismonographwasbeing written;toMsBonnieE.
Avery (Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA) for bibliographic
services,andwithspecialrecognitiontotheNativeAmerindiansfordevelopingthe
peach palm, and to the farmers and technicians whose work rests on this
foundation, and hascontributed to the monograph.
TheInternationalPlantGeneticResourcesInstitutewouldliketothankDrJan
Engels and DrAndrew Henderson fortheircriticalreview ofthe manuscript.
Copyrightedmaterial
Promotingtheconservationanduseofunderutilizedandneglectedcrops.20. 7
1 Introduction
Peachpalm{BactrisgasipaesKunth)wasastaplefoodcropformanypre-Columbian
Amerindian communities in the lowland humid neotropics (Patino 1963). The
Amerindiansdomesticatedpeachpalm anddistributed itthroughoutmuchofthe
Amazon Basin,northwestern Andean region and CentralAmerica,producing in
theprocessageneticallyrichlandracecomplex(Mora-Urpi 1993;Clement 1995a).
Theyvaluedpeachpalmforseveralreasons:itwaseasytocultivateintraditional
agroforestrysystems,ityielded welloninfertilesoils,thefruitscouldbeprepared
intoavarietyofnutritiousfoods,andotherplantpartscouldbeconsumedorused
for construction and other household needs. Most European colonists, however,
overlooked thevalueofpeachpalm,preferringtocultivatecornandotherknown
staplefoodcrops.Manypeoplestillcultivatepeachpalmonasmallscale,butitsreal
potentialin thehumid neotropicshasbeen largelyneglected untilrecently.
Peachpalmisbeingrediscoverednow,withpromisingnutritionalandcommer-
cial benefits for resource-poor families in Latin America. Interest was rekindled
primarilybyPatino'shistoricalreview(1958),CamachoandSoria'spaperonpeach
palm's heart-of-palm (1970) and a National Academy of Science booklet on
underexploitedtropicalplants (NRC 1975).Sincethen,nationaland international
effortshavefocusedongermplasmexplorations,conservationandmanagementof
geneticresources,geneticimprovement,agronomicmanagementand industrial-
ization.
Peach palm yields two food crops with commercialpotential: the fruit and
heart-of-palm.Thefruitprovides severalnutritious,staplefoods:pulp fordirect
consumption,flourforinfantformulaandbakedgoods,cookingoil,andrationfor
farm animalsandfishculture(Blanco-Metzleretal. 1992a).Theflourisalreadyon
themarketinpartsofCentralandSouthAmerica,andthereareplansforcommer-
cialproduction ofanimalration.Theprocessingofgourmetheart-of-palmforthe
internationalmarketisgrowingintoamajoragro-industryinproducingcountries
(Villachica1996).
Thegenepoolofcultivatedpeachpalmanditswildrelativesisrichindiversity.
There isconsiderablevariation in commercially importanttraitsthatcould serve
future genetic improvement programmes for fruit products and heart-of-palm
(Clementand Mora-Urpi 1987;Mora-Urpfetal. 1993).Unfortunately,geneticero-
sionisoccurring withinlandracesand wild relatives,creating an urgentneed for
new explorationstocollectgermplasmofhighutilityvalue,andfordevelopment
ofsustainable strategies toconservegermplasm through use.
Theobjectiveofthismonographistomakeinformationmorereadilyavailable
tothose interested in thefood-crop potentialand geneticresourcesofcultivated
peachpalm. Itishoped thatthiswillstimulatefurtherinterestinthecommercial
developmentofpeachpalm inthelowland humid neotropics.
: .
Peachpalm.BactrisgasipaesKunth
2 Taxonomy, nomenclatureand geographical
distribution
2.1 Taxonomy
ThecultivatedpeachpalmiscorrectlyreferredtoasBactrisgasipaesKunth(Uhland
Dransfield1987),butotherepithetsarestillfoundintheliterature.Peachpalmhasbeenplaced
intwodifferentgeneraatvarioustimesBactrisJacquin(1777)andGmilielmaMartius(1826)
Drude(1887)wasthefirsttoplaceGuilielmaasasubgenuswithinBactris.Burret(1934),
however,acceptedGuilielmaasagenusandreducedseveralspeciestosynonymywithB.
gasipaes,followingBailey(1930).MacBride(1960)agreedwithDrude'sdecisionbasedon
externalmorphology,butTomlinson(1961)supportedBurret'sdecisionbasedupon
differencesinfiberanatomyintheleaves.UhlandDransfield(1987),thecurrentstandard,
placefl.gasipaeswithinBactriswithoutdefiningasubgenericcategory.Sanders(1991),on
thebasisofapreliminarycladisticanalysis,considersfiacrratobeamonophyleticgenusif
Gw/fe/maisrecognizedasasectionwithinanexpandedsubgenusthatalsoincludesan
Antilleansection.
JustastheexistenceofGuilielmaitselfhasbeenquestioned,thenumberofspecies
includedwithinithaswaxedandwanedduringthelast175years.Mora-UrpfandClement
(1981)andClement(1988)reviewedthishistoryandidentifiedacoregroupoftaxathathave
remainedwithin Guilielmaup tothepresent,although Henderson (1995)recently
questionedthevalidityofmanyofthem.Mora-Urpf(1992)andMora-Urpietal.(1993)
listedseveraltaxathatmaybenewspecieswithinGM///e/ma,buttheyhavenotyetbeen
describedintheliterature.BecauseGw/Z/e/maiscurrentlyinquestion,Clement(1995a)
proposedtheadoptionofHarlananddeWet's(197l)genepoolterminologytoorganize
thesetaxaintoprimaryandsecondarygenepools.Theprimarygenepool(5.gasipaes)has
adomesticatedsubspecies(utilis)thatcontainsthelandraces,andawildsubspecies
(^pm'o^a)thatcontainsapparentlywildpopulationsof5.goy/pae^,someofwhichwere
originallydescribedasspecies.ThesecondarygenepoolcontainsotherGuilielmaspecies
thatprobablycanhybridizewithB.gasipaes.Thetertiarygenepoolcontainstheremaining
speciesofBactris.
Table1outlinesthisproposalandsomeofthecontroversysurroundingmanyofthe
taxa.Mora-Urpfs(1993)proposalthattheGuilielmacomplexisacoenospeciesis
conceptuallyverysimilartothegenepoolproposal,buttheformerterminologyismore
widelyused.AttheNewYorkBotanicalGarden,A.Hendersoniscurrentlyconductinga
systematicrevisionofBac^n.s'thatmayresolvethecontroversy,especiallywhenresultsof
isozymeandDNAstudiesareincluded.Henderson's(1995)firstproposal,however,
reducestheentireprimarygenepooltofi.ga^/pae^andtheentiresecondarygenepoolto5.
macana,withoutcommentoranalysisofvariation.Becauseoftheuncertaintyaboutthe
originofcultivatedpeachpalmandthepotentialimportanceofwildpopulationsand
relatedspeciesingeneticimprovementprogrammes,thetaxonomicrevisionshouldbe
basedonathoroughanalysisofvariationwithintheGM///e/wacomplexandthepartition
of this variation among and within the species that are finally accepted.
Copyftghiedmaierral
6
Promotingtheconservationanduseofunderutilizedandneglectedcrops.20.
Table1. CloselyrelatedspeciesoftheGi////e//7iacomplex,representedbytheir
originalnames
Species Location Observations
BactrisgasipaesKunth181 Ibague, Colombia Allthreenames
GuilielmaspeciosaMartius18241 Maranhao, Brazil correspondtocultivated
GuilielmautilisOersted 18582 Turrialba, Costa Rica peachpalm
GuilielmachontaduroTriana18543 CaucaValley,Colombia Wildrelativesofpeach
Bactrisspeciosayar.chichaguiKarsien18574MagdalenaValley, Colombia palm.Theyneeda
GuilielmainsignisMartius 18445 Beni, Bolivia taxonomic revision to
MartineziaciliataRuiz&Pavon 17986 Huanuco,Peru reconfirmthem as
GuilielmamicrocarpaHuber19048 Ucayali, Peru different speciesor
GuilielmamacanaMartius18449 Maracaibo, Venezuela synonyms
BactriscaribaeaKarsten 185710 Perija, Venezuela
Chontilla(undescribed)7 Esmeraldas, Ecuador Newlyfoundwild
Darien (undescribed)l1 Darien,Panama relativesofpeach
Ca-Pu (undescribed)12 Alto Putumayo-Caqueta palm
Rivers,Colombia
Azuero (undescribed)13 Azuero, Panama
1 Bailey(1930)reducedG.speciosatosynonymywithB.gasipaes(asG.gasipaes,becausehe
accepted Guilielma). Drude (1881) namedaspineless mutantvar. mitis. Barbosa-Rodriguez
(1903) namedthreevarieties {flava, coccineaand ochracea)thatare normalvariantsin most
cultivatedpopulations. Noneofthesevarietiesisacceptedtoday.
2 Bailey(1930)suggestedthatG.utilismaybeasynonymofB.gasipaesbutdidnotreduceitto
synonymy.Burret(1934)acceptedG.utilis.Glassman(1972)reducedittosynonymywithS.gasipaes.
3 Burret(1934)didnotmentionG.chontaduro. Glassman(1972)reducedittosynonymywithB.
gasipaes. Dugand(1976)reducedittoavarietyofB.gasipaes.Thistaxoniscalled'chinamato'
intheupperCaucaRivervalley,Colombia.
4 Alsodenominatedvar.chiquictiiquiKarsXen.GiventhegeographicproximitybetweenGuilielma
chontaduroandB.speciosavar.chichagui,theymaybesynonymous.
5BalslevandMoraes(1989)mentionthatBurret(1934)thoughtthatG.insignisshouldbereduced
tosynonymywithB.gasipaesbutBurretdidnotdoso. Saldias-Paz(1991)providedextensive
numericaldataonG.insignispopulationsnearSantaCruzdelaSierra,Bolivia. Henderson(1995)
reducedittosynonymywithB.gfas/paeswithoutcommentorananalysisofmorphologicalvariation.
6 Martius(1826)transferredM.ciliataioBactris,andWendland(1878)transferredittoGuilielma.
Burret(1934),MacBride(1960)andGlassman(1972)acceptedit. Bernal(1989)reduceditto
synonymywithB.gasipaeswithoutananalysisofmorphologicalvariationornewcollectionsin
thetypelocations.ThephotographofM.ciliatainDahlgren(1936)suggeststhatitissimilartoG.
microcarpa,andmuchsmallerthanG.insignis,butHenderson(1995)acceptsBernal'sconclusion
withoutcomment.IfM.ciliataissimilartoG.insignis,thiscontradictsHenderson'sdescriptionof
B.gasipaes.
CopyrigNedmalarial
1-10 Peachpalm.BactrisgasipaesKunth
Mora-UrpfcollectedChontillain1988,andplanteditintheUniversityofCostaRicagermplasmcollection.
ItlookslikeasmallG.insignisbutisfound2000kmfromBoliviaandontheothersideoftheAndes.Ithas
notbeendescribedbya6ac?r/sspecialist.
8 MacBride(1960)thoughtthisanomennodum,butGlassman(1972)acceptedit,renamingitB.
dahlgreniana.Clementetal.(1989)providedextensivenumericaldataonB.daWgfren/anapopulationsin
RondoniaandAcre,Brazil,andrecentlyfoundanewpopulationfurtherwestinAmazonas.
9Thisistheonlysmall-fruitedspeciesacceptedbyHenderson(1995),sinceheplacesallothersmall-fruited
Guilielmas'msynonymywithit,buthisargumentthatthisistheancestralformofB.gfas/paesessentially
reducesittosynonymywith6.gasipaes.
Dugand(1976)suggestedthatS.car/foaeawassynonymouswithG.macana,butneverpublishedaformal
proposal.
''''Mora-UrpicollectedDarienin1986,andplanteditintheUniversityofCosta
Ricagermplasmcollection.ItlookssomewhatlikeaB.dahlgrenianaorB.macana,buthasnotbeen
describedbyaSac^r/sspecialist.
12AUS-AIDfinancedprospectionteamcollectedCa-Puin1984(ClementandCoradin1988).Itlookslike
aGuilielma,butisquiteunlikeB.gasipaes.Unfortunately,noneoftheseedgerminated,soitisnot
representedinanygermplasmcollection.
"13Collectedin1996inCerroHoyaNationalPark,PanamabyJ.Mora-UrpfandplantedintheUniversity
ofCostaRicagermplasmcollection.Ithasnotbeendescribed.
Thedistributionofpeachpalmtodayinvolvesacomplexpatternoflandraces(Mora-Urpf
1984;Clementl988;Mora-UrpfandClement1988;Mora-Urpf1992).Ithasbeendividedinto
OccidentalandOrientalsubcomplexesbasedonvegetativedifferences(Mora-Urpfl984),and
fiirtherdividedintoclassesbasedonfruitsize(Mora-UrpiandClement1988;Mora-Urpfl992;
Mora-Urpietal.1993):the'microcarpa'landraceshavesmallfruits(<20g),the'mesocarpa'
landraceshavefruitsofintermediatesize(20-70g),andthe'macrocarpa'landraceshavevery
largefruits(70-250g).
2.2 Botanical and vernacular names
BactrisgasipaesKunth,familyPalmae(Arecaceae).Commonsynonyms:GM///e/wa
speciosa Martins, Guilielma gasipaes (Kunth) Bailey, Guilielma utilis Oersted.
Haploidchromosomenumbern=14(Mora-UrpfandSolfs1980),butRead(1966)
reportedn=\5.
Therearemorethan200vernacularnamesfor5(3c?mg<35'/p«3e5Kunth(Patiiio1960).
Themostcommonare:peachpalmandpewapalm(Trinidad),/7e/7Z?(3tje(CostaRicaand
Nicaragua),p/i'a(Panama),p(/7gMaoandmacana(Venezuela),c/?on?aJMro(Colombiaand
Ecuador),p(/May(9(Peru),fewi>eandpalmadeCastilla(Bo\i'via.),pupunha(Brazi\),parepon
(FrenchGuayana).Thebotanicalepithet(gas/p(2ej')isderivedfromthevernacularname
usedintheMagdalenaRivervalleyofColombia(cac/?/pay).
2.3 Geographical distribution
Cultivatedpeachpalmhadawidegeographicaldistributioninpre-Columbiantimes,
extendingfromcentralBoliviatonortheasternHonduras(approx.17°Sto16°N)andfrom
themouthoftheAmazonRiverandGuayanastothePacificcoastofEcuadorandColombia
intoCentralAmerica(Fig.l);todayitextendsnorthtoMexicoandtosomeCaribbeanIslands,
andhasbeentakentoothercontinents.ThewildspeciesofGM///e/wfl(Fig.2)extendfrom
Bolivia-RondonianorthtotheupperCaquetaRiverareainthewesternAmazonBasin,and
westoftheAndesMountainsfromthecentralcoastofEcuadortoNicaragua(Conzemius
1932;ArroyoandMora-Urpf1996).
Cop/fghledmalerial
