Book portrays genetic conservation of fruit trees native to Brazil

The book is now available for free download, on the Embrapa portal, on the Internet. Noah's Ark of Brazilian Native Fruits. The official launch of the publication takes place on Friday (12/11), as part of the program for the final day of the V Symposium of the Northeastern Plant Genetic Resources Network, held virtually from Mossoró, RN.

The work is the final product of the Active Native Fruit Germplasm Banks project, coordinated by Embrapa Tabuleiros Costeiros (Aracaju, SE) and linked to Embrapa's Genetic Resources portfolio. The edition was supported by the Brazilian Society of Genetic Resources (SBRG) and the Northeast Plant Genetic Resources Network (RGVNE).

The book mainly addresses the genetic banks of native fruit plants maintained by Embrapa in various locations in Brazil. The introduction deals with native fruits as a treasure of Brazilian biodiversity. The sections cover the popular use of native fruits, a threatened tradition; the genetic banks of native fruit plants themselves; conservation actions in situ (in their natural environments) of native fruit trees; and cultivars generated from banks. The final chapter talks about the challenges and future of native fruit plant gene banks.

The technical editors are researchers Josué Francisco da Silva Júnior, from Embrapa Tabuleiros Costeiros, Juliano Gomes Pádua, from Embrapa Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (Brasília, DF), and Fernanda Vidigal Duarte Souza, from Embrapa Mandioca e Fruticultura (Cruz das Almas, BA ), who currently holds the position of president of SBRG. 

The 22 chapters feature the participation of 32 researchers from ten different Embrapa research centers spread across Brazil.

The foreword is signed by researcher Åsmund Asdal, coordinator of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a bank that is also a Noah's Ark, located in the Svalbard archipelago, in Norway.

A highlight is the cover illustration, created by Pernambuco artist Jáder Cysneiros, who captured and translated the idea of ​​the theme with richness and beauty.

Word from the editors

Josué Francisco da Silva Júnior, researcher at Embrapa Tabuleiros Costeiros (Aracaju, SE)

“Embrapa’s genetic banks of native fruit trees are a true Noah’s Ark, because they have sought to conserve the genetic variability of many species that are important for research and traditional communities. As far as possible, we tried to use language accessible to the general public so that a link could be created between society in general and science in relation to genetic resources, a topic that is still little known to people. Genetic resources are the part of biodiversity that is used by humanity in its daily lives, in food, in the production of fibers and oils, in pharmacology, in wood production and in many other activities. The conservation and sustainable use of these resources are of strategic importance for maintaining national sovereignty. In this sense, Embrapa has made efforts to conserve its 35 genetic banks of native fruit plants, which contain species of great relevance to all Brazilian biomes.”

Juliano Gomes Pádua, researcher at Embrapa Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (Brasília, DF)

“In this richly illustrated work with popular language, species of outstanding economic importance are presented as well as those that are of regional importance. With QR codes, readers will have easy access to updated information for each bank, available in the Alelo System. The book also presents the relationship between Brazil's native fruits and the country's original people and the first colonizers. Europeans' fascination with the diversity of fruits was recorded in literary, artistic and scientific works. We hope that the book can help in the dissemination of native fruit trees, in order to raise awareness among the population about the importance of conserving and using in a sustainable way these species that are part of the Brazilian genetic heritage and have great cultural, social, ecological, food and economic.”

Fernanda Vidigal Duarte Souza, researcher at Embrapa Cassava and Fruticulture (Cruz das Almas, BA) and president of the Brazilian Society of Genetic Resources (SBRG)

“This is Embrapa's most complete publication on the conservation carried out in gene banks of this valuable germplasm that is our native fruit plants, and whose potential needs to be further researched and explored. Native fruit plants will play an increasingly important role in the current scenario of climate change and new directions in food and agriculture, and the conservation of this genetic variability is, therefore, strategic.”