Variation and its distribution in wild cacao populations from the Brazilian Amazon

A sample of 64 progenies (320 cacao trees as a whole) from four Brazilian Amazon basins was collected and evaluated on the basis of 15 fruit and seed traits. Nested univariate analyses of variance showed significant variation across progenies and basins. However, most of the variability appeared to be due to among trees and basins differences. The multivariate analysis showed that the differentiation in cacao populations occurred among basins. Since cacao diversity was predominantly found in trees within basins and among basins, one should optimize the collecting process by taking as many trees as possible starting from few progenies and many river basins. These findings seemed to validate gene conservation efforts made to date to preserve the cacao genetic resources and provide insight into the cacao genetic structure aiming cacao collection, management and improvement.