Abstract

ALVAREZ, Clímaco; PEREZ, Elevina  and  LARES, Mary. Morfología de los frutos y características físico-químicas del Mucílago del cacao de tres zonas del Estado Aragua. Agronomía Trop. [online]. 2002, vol.52, n.4, pp.497-506. ISSN 0002-192X.

SUMMARY     The objectives of this study were to compare the morphology and physical-chemical characteristics of fruits and some quality indexes of the raw mucilage of cacao, Theobroma cacao L., fruits collected from plants of Chuao, Cuyagua and Cumboto Aragua State, Venezuela. Genotypes were chosen from the 95 Germoplasm Collection of INIA Station at Ocumare de la Costa, Aragua State, Venezuela. Mature fruits were collected determining color of fresh beans and shape and texture of the fruits. pH and soluble solids (°Brix) of mucilaginous part of fresh fruits were measured following methodology described in A.O.A.C.I. Results indicated morphological variations between genotypes evaluated in each area. Statistical differences were also found when soluble solids values were compared among the mucilage of the fruits collected from different genotypes obtained from the three zones evaluated: 19.89-22.26 for Chuao; 14.48-17.52 for Cuyagua, and 7.83-15.68% for Cumboto. pH values showed less differences: 3.03-3.09 for Chuao, 3.01-3.68 for Cuyagua, and 3.36-3.76 for Cumboto.

Keywords : Cocoa; mucilage; morphology; composition.