Traditional management and domestication of tempesquistle, Sideroxylon palmeri (Sapotaceae) in the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley, Central Mexico

Tempesquistle (Sideroxylon palmeri) fruits are used as food by people of the Tehuacán Valley, Central Mexico. Nearly 7 tons of fruit are consumed by households and 13 tons are commercialized in regional markets per year in a village within the production area. Commercialization of fruits of three trees may determine higher incomes (67.65–354.12 US dollars) than cultivation of 1 ha of maize ( 168 US dollars). People gather tempesquistle fruits in tropical deciduous forests, but also from managed wild populations where trees producing better fruits (larger size and less amounts of latex) are selectively spared when clearing land for agriculture, and from homegardens where seeds from identified desirable phenotypes of tempesquistle are sown. Tempesquistle phenotypes with better fruits are perceived by local people to be more abundant in managed in situ and cultivated stands than in unmanaged wild populations, which suggests that management has determined processes of domestication.