Читать книгу Biotechnology of Fruit and Nut Crops - Группа авторов - Страница 88

Commercial production of cherimoya in Spain started to be significant in the 1940s and 1950s and currently, with about 3000 ha localized in the Southern Mediterranean coast, Spain is commercially the main world producer, followed by Peru and Chile. Cherimoya is also cultivated on a limited scale in California (USA), Argentina, Madeira (Portugal), Ecuador, Bolivia, South Africa, Australia, Italy, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt and Israel. In Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia, most of the cherimoya fruit are collected from small family orchards with very limited market involvement. Most of the trees originated either as chance seedlings or planted at the borders of paths or orchards. In South Africa, Australia, Egypt and Israel most commercial plantings are of the hybrid atemoya (A. cherimola × A. squamosa) which tolerates higher temperatures during flowering. Reliable data are not available for production of other cultivated species of the Annonaceae since, in many cases, they are grown as backyard fruit for domestic consumption. Soursop is cultivated in countries with tropical climates, i.e. Angola, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Jamaica, India, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Venezuela and countries in South-east Asia. The main producing countries are Mexico, Venezuela and Brazil. Pawpaw is still only in the early stages of commercial production and mainly found in local markets in the USA. Most fruits are still collected from wild stands or produced in small family orchards.

Despite the excellent organoleptic qualities that were highly appreciated in pre-Columbian times, the cherimoya remains an underutilized crop although with a clear niche for expansion in subtropical climates. The situation is similar with other fruits of the family. A. triloba, pawpaw, is particularly interesting, because the genus Asimina is the only genus of this mostly subtropical and tropical family with species adapted to cold climates (Hormaza, 2014) and has the potential to become a new fruit crop with a tropical fruit-like flavour in countries with temperate climates. To this end, the application of biotechnology can significantly contribute to the development and expansion of these crops.