PAULLINIA RUBIGINOSA

POPULAR NAMES: GUARANAÍ, GUARANÁ DE CIPÓ DA MATA ATLANTICA, INGA DE COBRA, UARANI

SAPINDACEAE

 

 

INDIGENOUS NAME: Guaranaí comes from the Tupi-Guaraní language and means "fruit that sees or observes," as in fact they show to be.

Origin: Native forest galleries along the rivers of the Atlantic Forest and easily found on the banks of rivers: Paranapanema, Piracicaba, Itapetininga, Tietê, Jaú, Guareí and many others, located in the southeastern state of São Paulo, appearing in Rio de Janeiro, Paraná, Santa Catarina, can also be found in Bolivia, Argentina and Paraguay.  

Characteristics: It is a woody climber with flexible branches of the length of 4 to 8 meters (13 to 27 feet) length. The stem is triangular or rectangular, laid in the center, with 2 to 3.5 cm tall by 3 to 6 cm wide, greyish green in color with white spots. The young branches are covered with fuzz, and sometimes back in square or polygonal. The leaves are opposite, compound of 5 leaves, 2 pairs and one odd one rachis (formed from petiole or midrib and main support). The inflorescence arises from the tip truss in bunch flowers grouped in bundles with a central stem, containing the 20 to 50 bundles with 3 flowers each. The flower is white or cream, has 5 mm in diameter when open.

Planted in the site of Frutas Raras: October 2002, bear fruit for the first time in February 2004. 

Tips for cultivation: The fast growing climbing plant that resists low temperatures (to -4°C (25°F)), and grows from sea level to altitudes above 1,000 m (3,333 feet). The soil should be deep, moist, neutral, with sandy or clay formation (red soil). You must plant at least 2 plants for better production. You must make an espalier with horizontal wires forming a mesh of 40 cm (1 1/3 feet) between wires.

Propagation: The seeds are recalcitantes (lose their germinative power if dried). Germination occurs in 10 to 30 days in any type of substrate rich in organic matter and is ready for planting in 5 months after sowing. It starts to bear fruit in the second year after planting.

Planting: Can be planted in full sun and shade in forests with large trees well spaced. Space between plants 4 x 4 m (13 x 13 feet). The espalier should have 6 pillars, in the distances of 2 m (7 feet) between them and 3 meters (10 feet) between the pairs, with height of 1.60 m (5 1/3 feet) to ease the harvesting of fruits. Add to 1kg of lime pit  and 1 kg of ash and 8 liters of organic matter. Water every fifteen days during the first 3 months, if water is lacking.

Cultivating: Make only the formation of crown pruning and remove the shoots that were grown from the base of the stem, manage the branches by a tutor until they fix the espalier. Fertilize with organic compost, can be 4 kg  of poultry litter and mixed with 50 g of NPK 10-10-10 in the months of November and December, distributed them to 30 cm from the trunk.

Uses: Fruits are triangular red capsules that open, exposing a sweet and edible white aril. Seeds which are black and slightly smaller than the Amazon Guarana (Paullinia cupana) have the same uses. To drink Guarana, follow the steps: the bunch of fruit is harvested when the majority of the capsules are opened, leave them stacked to the fermentation of aril facilitates the separation of the seeds is done by hand and washed on a sieve. Then the seeds are roasted in the furnace plate for removal of skin or bark. The almonds are smashed in a pestle with a little water until it has the consistency of a paste, then, this folder is shaped and carried into an dryer oven. Hence the rods are dried grated or ground, left as dust and is ready to be processed in the delicious energy drink of  guarana.

Flowering in the site of Frutas Raras: November to December.

Fruiting in the site of Frutas Raras: End of January until early March.

 

      

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