**2. Morphological characterization, geographical distribution, and ethnobotany of native Chilean fruits**

### **2.1.** *A. meli* **(Meli) (Phil.) D. Legrand & Kausel**

*A. meli* is a deciduous tree endemic to Chile, reaching a height up to 20 m (**Figure 2A**). It has a very distinctive white trunk, which makes it unmistakable among the species of Chilean trees [39]. It grows mostly on moist and shaded sites from the Arauco to Chiloé Regions (**Figure 1**) in the coastal rainforest, growing on the banks of waterways or under the canopy of other larger species [40]. No conservation problems have been reported for this species, although it is present in a few protected areas such as Chiloé National Park, the Valdivian Coast Reserve, and Oncol Park [39]. Despite its palatability, its fruits are not consumed because they have been reported to cause headaches. The infusion of its leaves is recommended as medicinal use for hypertension (**Figure 2B**) [14, 39]. It has great ornamental potential due to its abundant and very fragrant flowering (**Figure 2C**).

#### **2.2.** *A. chilensis* **(Maqui) (Mol.) Stuntz**

*A. chilensis* is an evergreen species endemic to Chile (**Figure 3A**), and it is distributed from Illapel (Coquimbo Region) to Chiloé (Los Lagos Region) (**Figure 1**) [37]. It grows naturally, forming wild populations named "macales" and can protect against erosion, since it grows rapidly in abandoned, burned, or overexploited soils [41]. The bright green Maqui leaves are ovallanceolate with a serrated edge (**Figure 3B**) [42]. The fruits are small, purple bright berries about 5 mm of diameter (**Figure 3C**), with two to five small seeds inside and are eaten fresh, in juice or in jam, and also used as food coloring and in wine-making [42, 43]. Maqui fruits have been of great interest to consumers for their high antioxidant activity, mainly due to phenolic compounds (**Figure 3C**) [44–46], which means this species has been considered a "superfruit" [47].

#### **2.3.** *B. microphylla* **(Calafate) G. Forst**

*B. microphylla*, commonly called Calafate, is a native Chilean plant species belonging to the Berberidaceae family (**Table 1**) [10, 15]. It is an evergreen shrub 2–3 m high with thorns and single yellow flowers (**Figure 4A**). Its fruit (barberry) is a dark blue-purple berry 7–11 mm in size (**Figure 4B** and **C**) [15, 48, 49]. Berberis genus incorporate among 20–60 species in South America, and the majority is commonly known as Michay or Calafate [50, 51]. In Chile, Calafate is distributed from Curicó to Tierra del Fuego at different altitudes and grows under a wide range of ecological conditions (**Figure 1**) [15, 48, 52]. This species is not cultivated and grows in the wild or in small gardens. Its fruits are used to prepare jam, juice, and wine [10, 15, 48, 50].

#### **2.4.** *Luma apiculata* **(Arrayán) (DC) Burret**

*L. apiculata* or Arrayán is an evergreen tree of the Valdivian Evergreen Forest (**Figure 5A**). Its bark is smooth reddish with whitish parts, reaching heights from 12 to 15 m tall with a crooked trunk around 50 cm in diameter (**Figure 5A**) [14, 40, 53]. The flowers are hermaphrodites and axillary arranged in groups of three or five, which form a berry, a small, black edible fruit (1.3–1.5 cm in diameter) (**Figure 5C**) [39, 51]. It is distributed in Chile from the Valparaíso to Aysén Regions (**Figure 1**) on lakeshores and riverbeds and on very moist soils. Trees of this species are conserved in various National Parks, including La Campana, Radal Siete Tazas, Laguna del Laja, Huerquehue, Puyehue, and Chiloé. Arrayán roots have medicinal uses as an anti-hemorrhagic and astringent, while the bark is used to treat herpes and ulcers, and the leaves (**Figure 5B**) to heal wounds, and treat stomach disorders [55].

#### **2.5.** *Luma chequen* **(Chequén) (Mol.) A. Gray**

**2. Morphological characterization, geographical distribution, and** 

*A. meli* is a deciduous tree endemic to Chile, reaching a height up to 20 m (**Figure 2A**). It has a very distinctive white trunk, which makes it unmistakable among the species of Chilean trees [39]. It grows mostly on moist and shaded sites from the Arauco to Chiloé Regions (**Figure 1**) in the coastal rainforest, growing on the banks of waterways or under the canopy of other larger species [40]. No conservation problems have been reported for this species, although it is present in a few protected areas such as Chiloé National Park, the Valdivian Coast Reserve, and Oncol Park [39]. Despite its palatability, its fruits are not consumed because they have been reported to cause headaches. The infusion of its leaves is recommended as medicinal use for hypertension (**Figure 2B**) [14, 39]. It has great ornamental potential due to its abundant

*A. chilensis* is an evergreen species endemic to Chile (**Figure 3A**), and it is distributed from Illapel (Coquimbo Region) to Chiloé (Los Lagos Region) (**Figure 1**) [37]. It grows naturally, forming wild populations named "macales" and can protect against erosion, since it grows rapidly in abandoned, burned, or overexploited soils [41]. The bright green Maqui leaves are ovallanceolate with a serrated edge (**Figure 3B**) [42]. The fruits are small, purple bright berries about 5 mm of diameter (**Figure 3C**), with two to five small seeds inside and are eaten fresh, in juice or in jam, and also used as food coloring and in wine-making [42, 43]. Maqui fruits have been of great interest to consumers for their high antioxidant activity, mainly due to phenolic compounds (**Figure 3C**) [44–46], which means this species has been considered a "superfruit" [47].

*B. microphylla*, commonly called Calafate, is a native Chilean plant species belonging to the Berberidaceae family (**Table 1**) [10, 15]. It is an evergreen shrub 2–3 m high with thorns and single yellow flowers (**Figure 4A**). Its fruit (barberry) is a dark blue-purple berry 7–11 mm in size (**Figure 4B** and **C**) [15, 48, 49]. Berberis genus incorporate among 20–60 species in South America, and the majority is commonly known as Michay or Calafate [50, 51]. In Chile, Calafate is distributed from Curicó to Tierra del Fuego at different altitudes and grows under a wide range of ecological conditions (**Figure 1**) [15, 48, 52]. This species is not cultivated and grows in the wild or in small gardens. Its fruits are used to prepare jam, juice, and wine [10, 15, 48, 50].

*L. apiculata* or Arrayán is an evergreen tree of the Valdivian Evergreen Forest (**Figure 5A**). Its bark is smooth reddish with whitish parts, reaching heights from 12 to 15 m tall with a crooked trunk around 50 cm in diameter (**Figure 5A**) [14, 40, 53]. The flowers are hermaphrodites and axillary arranged in groups of three or five, which form a berry, a small, black edible fruit

**ethnobotany of native Chilean fruits**

104 Superfood and Functional Food - An Overview of Their Processing and Utilization

**2.1.** *A. meli* **(Meli) (Phil.) D. Legrand & Kausel**

and very fragrant flowering (**Figure 2C**).

**2.2.** *A. chilensis* **(Maqui) (Mol.) Stuntz**

**2.3.** *B. microphylla* **(Calafate) G. Forst**

**2.4.** *Luma apiculata* **(Arrayán) (DC) Burret**

The Chequén is an endemic tree of the Andean forests in Chile (**Figure 6A**). It is distributed from Coquimbo to Capitán Prat (**Figure 1**) [39]. It grows only in areas of high humidity, on the banks of streams, and in gulches [39]. It is a medium-sized branched shrub, which reaches 9 m in height, with grayish brown bark, and the whole plant gives off a pleasant aroma (**Figure 6A**) [39]. The leaves are oval, wide, and short (**Figure 6B**). The berry fruits are edible and dark purple 1 cm in diameter, ripening in early autumn (**Figure 6C**) [14, 39].

### **2.6.** *Ugni molinae* **(Murtilla) Turcz**

Natural habitats of Murtilla are forests and coastal mountains from Valparaiso to Aysén (**Figure 1**). It is an evergreen shrub from 1 to 2 m tall (**Figure 7A**) [56, 57]. The dark green leaves are lanceolate, and the flowers are hermaphrodite (**Figure 7B**) [56]. The fruits are bright red globose berries 5–15 mm in diameter with a sweet taste and a strong aroma (**Figure 7C**) [56, 58]. Murtilla is adapted to most soils and is resistant to drought, wind, and cold, but not frost [59]. The traditional uses are for jams, juices, chocolates, and liqueur production (enmurtado or enmutillado).
