Ericáceas con frutos comestibles en Colombia

A review of the Colombian species of Ericaceae with edible fruits is presented, with emphasis on their use, propagation, and cultivation. Twenty-five species in ten genera were recorded, whose highest diversity is concentrated in Cavendishia, Disterigma, Gaultheria, and Vaccinium. Most of the species are distributed in the middle and upper areas of the Eastern and Central Andean Mountains. Although direct and sporadic fruit consumption is the most frequent, fruit processing into derived products was reported for seven species, and only three of them have had some level of trade. Although propagation and cultivation studies are concentrated on Vaccinium meridionale, basic propagation studies are recorded on Vaccinium floribundum, Macleania rupestris, Cavendishia bracteata, Disterigma alaternoides, and Thibaudia floribunda. However, most fruits of Colombian Ericaceae are primarily harvested from wild populations. Detailed studies of the effect of harvesting on natural populations are not currently known, nor are there management plans for their use.