Brazil is the biggest producer, consumer and exporter of acerola (Malpighia emarginata D.C.). It has become a highly requested fruit in the world market for preparing juices and consumption in nature because it contains high levels of vitamin C. Nowadays brazilian acerola orchards have shown decrease in production due to the occurrence of root-knot nematodes, one of the main problem affecting the culture. The aim of this study was to evaluate the resistance of acerola genotypes to Meloidogyne enterolobii. The experiment was conducted in greenhouse of the Department of Plant Protection of Agronomic Science College - FCA/UNESP - Botucatu, SP. Five clones, Cherry-Brs-236; Fruit Color-Brs-238; Roxinha-Brs-237; Mirandópolis; Japi, and three varieties, Okinawa; Olivier and Waldy-CATI, were studied. Each plant was inoculated with 2,500 M. enterolobii eggs and second stage juveniles (Pi). After 60 days the roots of each plant was washed, staining with phloxine-B and examined for obtaining gall and egg mass indices (GI; EMI), and processed by blender, sieving and centrifugation method to obtain the total number of eggs (Pf), which was used to calculate the reproduction factor (Pf / Pi). All acerola clones and varieties were considered susceptible to Meloidogyne enterolobii, with RF ranging from 4.1 to 18.3.
Acerola; root-knot nematode; resistance
