Meta-analysis of scientific information on the species Carludovica palmata Ruíz & Pavón

Abstract

Carludovica palmata Ruíz & Pavón is a palm species with great potential in the manufacture of handicrafts, but with limited agricultural management. It is native to Ecuador, and in Mexico it is only distributed in Campeche in the southeast of the country; it serves as raw material for manufacturing Jipi palm hats. The objective of this work is to analyze the spatio-temporal evolution of research published in scientific articles where the species was studied, using bibliometric techniques to identify areas of opportunity in research that have been little developed. We found 78 texts from 1961 to 2022 whose spatio-temporal evolution showed an exponential growth that concentrated in countries of America: Colombia (38), Mexico (11) and Ecuador (8). The most recurrent research topics were botany of the species (20), transformation of its fibers into handicrafts (18), traditional production (in situ cultivation) (17) and commercialization of handicrafts (15). However, a null development of propagation techniques of the species was found, a problem that is accentuated if one considers the high demand for its specimens for the manufacture of handicrafts. Therefore, little explored areas of research such as in vitro propagation can contribute to the supply of the raw material of an emerging market on products and by-products of the jipi palm. In the case of Mexico, the research focused on the southeast, which coincides with the region where the species is cultivated, but which showed a lack of development in techniques on its propagation.