Fenologia e produtividade da fruta-pão (Artocarpus Altilis) e da Jaca (A. heterophyllus) na Amazônia Central

Abstract

The breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis (Parkinson) Fosberg) and the jackfruit (A. heterophyllus Lamk) are native to Oceania and south Asia, respectively, and were domesticated for their starchy fruits and nutrient rich seeds. Both are commonly cultivated in Amazonia, in both urban and rural settings. Both species presented various flowering peaks during the year, with breadfruit flowering in both the rainy and the dry seasons, while jackfruit flowered principally in the rainy season. The proportion of staminate and pistilate flowers of breadfruit alternated irregularly during the year, while the pistilate flowers of jackfruit were generally most abundant. Breadfruits were present on the trees during most of the year, with peaks of abundance in the early rainy (January to March) and late dry seasons (August to October), while jackfruits were abundant in the rainy season of 1988 (January to March) and the dry season of 1988 and 1989 (July to September). Fruit set of breadfruit was greater than that of jackfruit (means of 76% and 48% per semester, respectively). Both breadfruit and jackfruit presented pronounced fruit abortion between fruit set and maturation (means of 36% and 28% per year, respectively). Although fruit number produced per tree was not much different (means of 53 and 45, respectively), estimated jackfruit yield was much greater (475 kg/tree) than that of breadfruit (48 kg/tree), because jackfruits were much larger than breadfruits (means of 8.9 kg and 1.1 kg, respectively). Bees were the principal insect visitors, always more numerous than ants, butterflies or flies.