Biometry of fruits and seeds mangaba (Hancornia speciosa Gomes) in natural vegetation in the eastern region of Mato Grosso, Brazil

Abstract

The objective of this study is to characterize biometrically the fruits and seeds of mangaba fruit in the Nova Xavantina, a region dominated by Cerrado vegetation. We analyzed 120 fruits and 480 seeds on the longitudinal length, width, the equatorial diameter, fresh weight, fruit volume, fresh weight pulp, number of seeds per fruit, weight of seeds per fruit, longitudinal length, width, equatorial diameter, fresh weight of seed, an index volume of seeds and subsequently we determined the thousand seed weight. Biometric features were analyzed by frequency distribution, Spearman (rS) correla- tion coefficient and the significance by t-test. Three classes of fruits were recorded for all parameters, with great variation between classes. There is a high positive correlation between the mass and size of fruit pulp and between the fruit mass and weight of the seed contained therein.