The Requisite Physicochemical Growth Conditions and the Nutrient Composition of the Fruits of Selected Palms Species of Hururu, Region 10, Guyana
Abstract
Palms are important for their ethnobotanical uses in rural indigenous areas of developing countries; however, they are rarely studied in other regions apart from the Brazilian Amazon. The results from this research provided growth conditions and nutrient composition of the palm species M. flexuosa, A. Maripa and J. bataua. Their ecological factors consisted of abiotic factors such as soil type, pH, EC, OC, OM, humidity, sunlight via canopy, and temperature. This study found that ash is higher between 0.02-4.95%, nitrogen is higher between 4.50-5.38%, carbohydrates are lower between 0-1%, fat is between 1-19%, fibre is higher between 0.15-29%, and moisture is between 57-67%. Ash, nitrogen, carbohydrates, fat, fibre, and moisture were higher in the J. bataua species than in previous studies, and there was no comparative literature for the nutrient content of the other palm species.
Keywords
Arecaceae, Attalea maripa, Jessenia bataua, Manicole, Palms, Physicochemical