Brazilian and Mexican experiences in the study of incipient domestication

Lins Neto, Ernani Machado de Freitas; Peroni, Nivaldo; Casas, Alejandro; Parra, Fabiola; Aguirre, Xitlali; Guillén, Susana; Albuquerque, Ulysses Paulino

doi:10.1186/1746-4269-10-33

Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine

Table 1 Examples of Mexican plants under domestication and their documented trends in changes resulting from artificial selection

From: Brazilian and Mexican experiences in the study of incipient domestication

Species (Family)	Common name	Life form	Plant part used	Character	Selection trend	References
Agave spp. (Agavaceae)	Sisal	Perennial herb	Fibers	Plant size	Larger Greater	[71, 84]
				Leave’s	length and width
				Teeth	Less abundant
				Plant’s size and vigor	Greater
		Pulque	Sap
Annanas comosus L. merr. (Bromeliaceae)	Pineapple	c	Aggregated fruit	Seeds	Seedless fruits	[85]
				Taste, juiciness, color	Increasing sweet-tasting
Bactris gasipaes (Arecaeae)	Pejibaye	Palm	Palm heart,	Fruit size	Increasing fruit size	[11, 85–87]
			Fruit	Water content	Less
				Firmness	Less
				Pulp fibrousness	Less
				Spines	Spineless or spines. Peach palms with spines used because their high-yielding and reasonably disease resistant
Byrsonima crassifolia (L.) Kunth (Malpighiaceae)	Nance	Perennial tree	Fruits	Fruit size	Larger fruits	[42]
				Pulp flavor	Sweeter
				Seed weigh	Lighter
Jacaratia mexicana A. DC. (Caricaceae)	Bonete	Tree	Fruit	Size	Larger	[88, 89]
				Pulp flavor	Sweeter
				Pulp quantity	Greater
Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill (Cactaceae)	Prickly pear	Cacti	Cladode (stem)	Spines	Less abundant	[89–92]
				Thickness	Less
				Mucilage	Less abundant
				Vessel fibrosity	Less
				Oxidation rate	Less
				Size	Smaller
				Glochids	Absent
				Fruit	Smaller, less sweet
			Fruit
			(tuna)	Cladode size
				Fruiting period	Larger Earlier in the year Younge
				Reproductive age Glochids	Abundant
				Seeds	Abundant
			Fruit (xoconostle)
				Fruit size	Larger
				Peel/pulp rate	Higher
Pachyrhizus erosus L. (Fabaceae)	Yam bean	Herbaceous vine	Tuberous root	Peel thickness	Reduce peel thickness	[93]
				Peel color	Favoring dark and white peel
				Tuberous root size	Increasing tuber size
Persea americana L. (Lauraceae)	Avocado	Tree	Fruit	Size	Larger Thicker (var. Hass)	[85, 94]
Persea americana L. (Lauraceae)	Avocado	Tree	Fruit	Peel	Larger Thicker (var. Hass)	[85, 94]
Sechium edule Sw. (Cucurbitaceae)	Chayote	Vine	Fruit	Pulp flavor	Less sour	[95]
				Fibrosity	Less
				Germination	In the tree (viviparism)
Spondias purpurea L. (Anacardiaceae)	Jocote	Tree	Fruit	Size	Larger Other than red	[96]
				Color	Less
				Sourness	More abundant
				Pulp
Vanilla planifolia Jack ex Andr. (Orchidaceae)	Vanilla	Vine, perennial climbing herb	Pods	Productivity	Higher flowering thus a major production of pods	[97]

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ISSN: 1746-4269

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