Three vegetative characters and palmito yield components of assai palms (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) were studied in an experiment at Ubatuba, State of São Paulo, Brazil, in order to identify non-destructive traits that could be used to estimate yield in superior material evaluation and selection. Partial correlation coefficients showed significancy for palm girth and the main palmito yield components (weight, diameter and lenght), but not with the edible portion of the stipe. No significant partial correlation coefficient were found between the number of leaves and palm weight, indicating that the simple correlation coefficient found before, between those traits, were inflated by palm girth. Palm girth was, among the studied traits, the one that contributed the most for palmito yield as estimated by its weight and diameter. It accounts for over 65% of the variation in total heart of palm weight, 35% of its net weight and over 50% of its diameter. Due to the facility to be measured, the palm girth, or its diameter, should be used for evaluation and selection of superior palms in plant breeding of field experiments.
assai palm; heart of palm; vegetative traits; simple and partial correlations; linear regression