The Annonaceae family is one of the oldest angiosperms.
In the analysis of fossils
of leaves, seeds, fruits, and pollen, it is estimated that it had its origin in the late Cretaceous period [1]
. The Annonaceae family is significant for ecological, evolutionary, and economic reasons [2].
Worldwide, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) database lists 162 genera, and 3049 species of the Annonaceae family, distributed mainly in the tropical and subtropical region of Central and South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia [3].
On the other hand, the World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP) lists 111 genera with 2444 accepted species [4].
The most representative genera of the family are Annona with 215 species, Goniothalamus with 147 species,
Guatteria with 314 species, Polyalthia with 153 species, and Uvaria with 247 species, and Xylopia with 216 species [3]
, which together represent 42.3% of the species of this family.
In this context, in North America, the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) includes 14 genera and 35 species.
While the database of the Sistema
Nacional de Información de la Biodiversidad (SNIB) mentions the presence in Mexico of 22 genera and 73 species, of these, 19 belong to the genus Annona [5].
Only the genera Annona and Asimina contain species that
produce edible fruits; most of these species are found in Annona (A. cherimola Mill., A. squamosa L., A. muricata L., A. cherimola x A. squamosa, A. reticulata L., A. macroprophyllata Donn. Sm., A. glabra L., and A. purpurea Moc. & Sessé ex Dunal, while only A. triloba is present in Asimina [6].
It is estimated that the genus Annona originated
approximately 66 million years ago in the tropics and subtropics of America, Southeast Asia, and Africa [7,8].
A. cherimola, A. squamosa, A. macroprophyllata (= A. diversifolia), and A. muricata are native to Central America, and were distributed by humans to other countries [6,9].
A. muricata, A. reticulata, A. squamosa, and A. cherimola may have been cultivated by the Mayans for at least 3400 years B.C., to which they made selections during their cultivation [10]. On the other hand, it is believed that
A. reticulata is native to western India and was later carried to Central America [11].
A. cherimola is a species cultivated mainly in the tropics and subtropics of America. Unlike the other fruit species of Annona, it requires a temperate climate
; it is cultivated in the United States, Mexico, Spain, Australia, Guatemala, Ecuador, and Peru [6,8],
Spain being the main producer with 3600 hectares. In Mexico, its development and agronomic knowledge are still limited;
36 hectares have been established, with a production of 247.3 tons [12]. Of the five fruit species of Annona,
A. muricata currently presents greater agronomic development and established surface. It is cultivated mainly in Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil in areas with a warm climate from sea level to an altitude of 800 m. It is native to Central America [1,9]
. Currently, Mexico and Brazil are the main producers, and together they maintain around 8000 cultivated hectares [12,13].
On the other hand, A. reticulata and A. macroprophyllata are still species with little or no cultivation development.
Both are currently in a semi-cultivated state in backyard orchards or in the wild in tropical and warm regions in the Mexican Pacific states. A. macroprophyllata is native to Mexico. This species was a fruit known and consumed by the Aztecs before the arrival of the Spanish, who brought it to Europe in the year 1570 [14].
It is mainly distributed in the dry tropic region in the states of Guerrero and Colima [15].
It is commercialized in local markets; the fruits are
collected in wild areas, from backyard trees, or established on the banks of other crops, such as corn, and mainly grazing lands.
Efforts have been made to identify and characterize phenotypes of this species with outstanding adaptive and agronomic characteristics, highlighting the collections and characterizations of Ballesteros in the Tierra Caliente region, in the state of Guerrero [16,17,18].
It tolerates soil conditions with low levels of nutrients, drought, and high temperatures, which makes it an interesting
alternative species to grow in places with these conditions and contributes to the economy of low-income families [16].
A. reticulata is found in the wild in Mexico; however, in other countries such as India, Brazil, Peru, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and the United States,
it is found in small areas of cultivation, in backyards, and in the wild from where it is collected for its consumption and sale in local markets [11].
A. squamosa is a little better-known species; it is cultivated in Central America, Mexico, India, and northwest Brazil [12,19,20]. It is distributed in tropical and subtropical countries in warm and semi-warm places from 200 m to 1300 m above sea level [21]. Brazil is the main producer, with around 10,000 hectares cultivated in the northwest [13].
The use of fruit Annonaceae is wide and varied; these fruits are consumed principally fresh. The processed fruits can be found in the market as different anonas-derived products such as ice cream, flakes, juice, nectar, jelly, yogurt, puree, milkshakes, syrup, jam, alcoholic beverages, desserts, and extracts of active compounds with medicinal properties [22]. However, during the last two decades, these Annona species have been the subject of numerous and diverse studies mainly due to their biological properties (ecology) and applications in the fields of medicine (various pathologies), nutraceuticals (antioxidants, minerals, and fiber), metabolomics (acetogenins and other insecticidal, fungicidal, and bactericidal compounds), and agriculture (alternative crops, molecular characterization, germplasm collection, characterization, plant breeding, and obtaining new varieties), among others [23].
Due to their genetic characteristics and biotechnological potential, interdisciplinary research groups have been formed in countries such as Spain, France, the United States, Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico [24], and recently India and Bangladesh, as highlighted by numerous publications. In Mexico, the National Network of Anonaceas (NNA) was formed in 2002, made up of researchers from different institutions and disciplines of knowledge, with an emphasis on the study of the species A. muricata, A. cherimola, A. squamosa, A. diversifolia, A. reticulate, A. purpurea, and related wild genera that, faced with the increasing threat of environmental deterioration, are at risk of genetic erosion and gradual loss. The main objectives are the generation of knowledge for in situ and ex situ conservation, use and enhancement, and capacity building in these species [25]. Although some activities have been carried out in the NNA, the lack of budget support has limited the monitoring and fulfillment of these objectives. Currently, this network is part of the subcommittee on genetic resources, which in turn is coordinated by the Sectoral Committee on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, whose legal basis is on the Agreement by which the Sectoral Committee on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture is created. The objective of this Committee is to promote the conservation, management, fair and equitable distribution of benefits, and sustainable use of genetic resources, through inter-institutional and interdisciplinary coordination in the sector [26]. Similarly, specialist meetings have been held with presentations of research results in different areas of knowledge in the Annonaceae group [24,25].
Considering the above, the objective of this review is to gather the current information generated in these Annona species, delimit the frontier of knowledge, and propose actions in the short, medium, and long term for the NNA. The JSTOR, ResearchGate, Google Scholar, Scopus databases and national production statistics, as well as technical publications from research institutes and centers were reviewed.
It is interesting to observe how the development of research in these Annona species has been, on the one hand, the basic agronomic knowledge for
their commercial production, and postharvest management technologies and obtaining derived products is still limited. They have made progress only in some areas of the production process and postharvest handling. However, in topics such as phytochemistry, nutraceutical uses, and applications in different pharmacological areas, important research contributions have been constructed in several countries.
