CHARACTERIZATION OF FRUITS AND SEEDS OF SOME CUCURBITS IN NORTHERN PERÚ

Abstract

Cucurbit germplasm was collected in northern Perú. Sampling covered the Tumbes, Piura and Cajamarca regions and gathered 8 genera, 14 species and 202 accessions. The highest number of accesions came from Lambayeque. Genetic material has been conserved since 1988 to this date at 10 °C, with a seed viability rate of 90 %. Morphological characteristics of fruits and seeds of Cucurbita ficifolia, C. moschata, C. maxima, Cucurbita sp., a local variety known as “loche”, and Lagenaria siceraria, were evaluated. The Cucurbita accesions showed variability in fruit shape, size and colour, and in seed size and shape. Lagenaria accesions stood out by their variability in fruit shape and size, in which the “calabazos”, “lapas”, “mates” and “checos” fruit types, and many intermediate shapes, were recognized. The possibility that the genotypes “chuyán” and “loche”, traditionally classified as C. moschata, could be sub-species is discussed. It is concluded that the north coast of Perú is a center of high morphological diversity of C. moschata and L. siceraria, while the Andean region of Cajamarca and Piura is the diversity center for C. ficifolia.