APPROACH TO THE GENETIC DIVERSITY OF COYOL ACROCOMIA ACULEATA IN MEXICO: MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF WILD POPULATIONS OF OAXACA AND CHIAPAS

In the current global context of climate change and the increasing demand for vegetable oils, Acrocomia aculeata (coyol) stands out due to its high oil content and quality. In Mexico, its natural distribution spans tropical and subtropical regions. Although it has been utilized by local populations since pre-Hispanic times, studies on this species are scarce, limiting its exploitation as a raw material for the biofuel, food, pharmaceutical, and other bioeconomy industries. In this context, a morphological characterization of A. aculeata genotypes was conducted across eight native populations in the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico. Twenty-five quantitative and qualitative descriptors of the plant, fruit, and seed were used. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed using SAS software. A dendrogram was generated for cluster analysis based on morphological similarities. The first three principal components (PCs) explained 69.4% of the total morphological variation. PC1 accounted for 29.6% of the variation, primarily associated with stem diameter, mesocarp thickness, seed length, width, length/width ratio, thickness, and weight. PC2 explained 26.1% of the variation, linked to fruit width and length, mesocarp color, and mesocarp oil content. PC3 explained 13.7% of the variation, related to rachis length and epicarp and endocarp color. The dendrogram revealed two main morphologically distinct groups, corresponding with their geographic locations, distinguishing materials from Chiapas from those of Oaxaca. Additionally, substructuring into five morphological subgroups was observed. These results suggest high morphological genetic diversity in A. aculeata in Mexico, which could be utilized in genetic improvement programs to develop superior genotypes for various purposes