IDENTIFICATION OF MATURATION INDICATORS OF THE MACAÚBA PALM FRUIT FOR STAGGERED HARVESTING PURPOSES

The vegetable oil market is in the order of 220 million tons.year ^-1, with an additional demand forecast of 480 million tons.year-1 in the next 25 years just to serve the civil aviation sector. Soybeans and oil palm are the two main oilseeds in this market, and there is a clear need to seek alternatives that deliver more oil per unit of area. The macaúba palm tree, (Acrocomia aculeata (Jacq.) Lodd. ex Mart.) , has been pointed out as part of the solution to this problem. One of the challenges that is presented to the crop is to identify the ripening point of the fruits for harvest, since there is no uniformity of fruit maturation between different bunches of the same plant, the oil content increases considerably in its last weeks and it is not possible to identify by size or color of the fruit its stage of maturation. Thus, considering that in the maturation phase there are several physiological and biochemical changes in the fruit, the present study sought to identify indicators of maturation or the ideal harvest point. 4 collections of fruits from 10-year-old progenies located in Pindorama-SP were carried out, the first on 09/20/23 and the last from naturally fallen fruits. Data on fruit biometry and density, moisture, oil and ash content of the mesocarps, and epicarp rupture strength were obtained. As expected, there was an increase in the oil content in the pulp over time. The humidity gradually decreased during the months evaluated, as well as the ash content