Aristotelia chilensis

Aristotelia chilensis is a small dioecious evergreen tree that can reach {{convert|4|to|5|m}} in height. Its divided trunk has a smooth bark. Its branches are abundant, thin and flexible. Its leaves are simple, opposite, hanging, oval-lanceolate, naked and coriaceous, with serrated edges. The leaf venation is highly visible, and the leaf stalk is a strong red color.

In the beginning of spring, the tree sheds the old leaf cohort, which is used as a carbohydrate source to form the new leaves and flowers.{{cite journal | vauthors = Prado CH, Damascos MA | title = Gas exchange and leaf specific mass of different foliar cohorts of the wintergreen shrub Aristotelia chilensis (Mol.) Stuntz (Eleocarpaceae) fifteen days before the flowering and the fall of the old cohort. | journal = Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology | date = September 2001 | volume = 44 | issue = 3 | pages = 277–82 | doi = 10.1590/S1516-89132001000300009 | doi-access = free }}

File:Maqui chileno berry.jpg

When A. chilensis flowers at the end of spring, the white flowers are unisexual and small, eventually yielding a small edible fruit. The small purple-black berries that form are approximately {{convert|4|to|6|mm}} in diameter and contain 4 to 8 angled seeds. A seven-year-old tree can produce up to {{convert|10|kg|}} of berries per year. With fruit that tastes similar to blackberries, the species is known as the Chilean wineberry, and locally in Spanish as maqui or maque.

The maqui was first scientifically described by Juan Ignacio Molina in 1782, who named it Cornus chilensis. In 1914, Stephen Conrad Stuntz assigned it to the genus Aristotelia that had been erected by Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle in 1786, and made the new combination A. chilensis.{{cite web|title= Aristotelia chilensis Stuntz|website= The World Flora Online|url= http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000003066;jsessionid=3236DB1DC206E4C901E3C60C54B81089}}

Aristotelia chilensis is native to Chile and Argentina near the southwest coast of South America.{{cite POWO |id=19666-2 |title=Aristotelia chilensis |accessdate=23 January 2022}} It is found naturally in Chilean rainforests. Its native range spans the area between the Coquimbo and Aysén regions of Chile, and is {{Convert|170,000|hectare|}} in total.{{cite journal | vauthors = Nahuelhual L, Carmona A, Lara A, Echeverría C, González ME | year = 2012 | title = Land-cover change to forest plantations: Proximate causes and implications for the landscape in south-central Chile | url = https://zenodo.org/record/995737| journal = Landscape and Urban Planning | volume = 107 | issue = 1| pages = 12–20 | doi=10.1016/j.landurbplan.2012.04.006}}

Maqui berries are a favored food for birds at the end of summer. Deforestation of the Valdivian temperate forests in Chile suppresses seed dispersal by birds and leads to inbreeding depression.{{cite conference | vauthors = Valdivia CE, Simonetti JA | title = Plant Conservation and Biodiversity | chapter = Decreased frugivory and seed germination rate do not reduce seedling recruitment rates of Aristotelia chilensis in a fragmented forest | journal = Biodiversity and Conservation | series = Topics in Biodiversity and Conservation | date = 2006 | volume = 6 | issue = 6 | pages = 1593–1602 | doi = 10.1007/978-1-4020-6444-9_2 | hdl = 10533/178593 | isbn = 978-1-4020-6443-2 | hdl-access = free }} It is viewed as an invasive species in the Juan Fernandez Islands.{{Cite web |title=Archipiélago de Juan Fernández: el tesoro del mar chileno y su lucha por la conservación |url=https://laderasur.com/articulo/archipielago-de-juan-fernandez-y-su-lucha-por-la-conservacion/ |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=Ladera Sur |language=es}}

The berries of A. chilensis are collected from wild plants from December to March of each year by families, mainly Mapuche, who collect their harvest near the Andes Mountains. The harvesting process involves collecting the side branches of trees, shaking them to separate the berries and leaves from the branches, and then employing a mechanical process to separate the berries from the leaves.{{Citation needed|date=September 2018}} In the Juan Fernandez Islands, the Juan Fernandez Women's Group has led efforts to reduce the presence of the species by encouraging local women to harvest to berries and create products for sale with them.{{Cite web |title=Archipiélago de Juan Fernández: el tesoro del mar chileno y su lucha por la conservación |url=https://laderasur.com/articulo/archipielago-de-juan-fernandez-y-su-lucha-por-la-conservacion/ |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=Ladera Sur |language=es}}

The stored fruits are sold in local markets, with prices ranging from {{convert|6.5|to|15|$/kg}}. The average area yield is about {{convert|220|kg|}} per hectare annually, with an estimated yearly total of only {{convert|90|short ton|lb}},{{Citation needed|date=September 2018}} due to remote access and difficulty of transportation.{{Citation needed|date=September 2018}}

Aristotelia chilensis is planted in home gardens and is not grown on an orchard scale. Most of the fruits on the market have been gathered from the wild. Maqui is frost sensitive and fairly tolerant of seaside conditions. It prefers a well-drained soil in full sun, with some protection against cold, drying winds. The soil should be slightly acidic, with moderate fertility.{{cite book | vauthors = Huxley A | date = 1992 | title = The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening }}

Aristotelia chilensis can be planted in USDA zones 8 to 12. It is cultivated in Spain, and in milder, moister areas of Britain, where winter freezes cause dieback, thereby stimulating growth of more shoots in spring.{{cite book | vauthors = Grey-Wilson C, Matthews V | date = 1983 | title = Gardening on Walls | location = London }}

Seeds of A. chilensis germinate without cold stratification. In zones with the possibility of frost, it is recommended to sow in spring in a greenhouse. If they have grown enough, by autumn, the new plants can be planted into individual pots. The potted plants should stay in the greenhouse for the first winter.

The following year, after the last expected frost in spring, the plants can be planted out into their final positions. In their first winter outdoors, some type of frost protection is required.{{cite book | vauthors = Bean W | date = 1981 | title = Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain | volume = 1–4 }} For further propagation, vegetative propagation is possible: cuttings of wood with a length of {{Convert|15|to|30|cm}} can be planted into pots. These cuttings normally root, and can be planted out in the following spring.{{cite book | vauthors = Chittenden F | date = 1951 | title = RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement | publisher = Oxford University Press }}

Polyphenol research on maqui berries showed anthocyanin content to include eight glucoside pigments of delphinidin and cyanidin, with the principal anthocyanin being delphinidin 3-sambubioside-5-glucoside (34% of total anthocyanins).{{cite journal | vauthors = Romero-González J, Shun Ah-Hen K, Lemus-Mondaca R, Muñoz-Fariña O | title = Total phenolics, anthocyanin profile and antioxidant activity of maqui, Aristotelia chilensis (Mol.) Stuntz, berries extract in freeze-dried polysaccharides microcapsules | journal = Food Chemistry | volume = 313 | pages = 126115 | date = May 2020 | pmid = 31927206 | doi = 10.1016/j.foodchem.2019.126115 | s2cid = 210166613 }}{{cite journal | vauthors = Fredes C, Yousef GG, Robert P, Grace MH, Lila MA, Gómez M, Gebauer M, Montenegro G | display-authors = 6 | title = Anthocyanin profiling of wild maqui berries (Aristotelia chilensis [Mol.] Stuntz) from different geographical regions in Chile | journal = Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture | volume = 94 | issue = 13 | pages = 2639–48 | date = October 2014 | pmid = 24497378 | doi = 10.1002/jsfa.6602 | hdl-access = free | hdl = 10533/127080 }}{{cite journal | vauthors = Escribano-Bailón MT, Alcalde-Eon C, Muñoz O, Rivas-Gonzalo JC, Santos-Buelga C | title = Anthocyanins in berries of Maqui (Aristotelia chilensis (Mol.) Stuntz) | journal = Phytochemical Analysis | volume = 17 | issue = 1 | pages = 8–14 | year = 2006 | pmid = 16454470 | doi = 10.1002/pca.872 | hdl-access = free | hdl = 10366/141047 }} The average total anthocyanin content was {{convert|138|mg|}} per {{Convert|100|g|}} of fresh fruit, or {{convert|212|mg|}} per {{convert|100|g|}} of dry fruit, ranking maqui berries low among darkly pigmented fruits for anthocyanin content (see table at anthocyanins). One study found that anthocyanins are also present in maqui leaves.{{cite journal | vauthors = Suwalsky M, Vargas P, Avello M, Villena F, Sotomayor CP | title = Human erythrocytes are affected in vitro by flavonoids of Aristotelia chilensis (Maqui) leaves | journal = International Journal of Pharmaceutics | volume = 363 | issue = 1–2 | pages = 85–90 | date = November 2008 | pmid = 18687390 | doi = 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2008.07.005 | hdl-access = free | hdl = 10533/142020 }}

Other phytochemicals extracted from the leaves of A. chilensis were the alkaloids aristoteline, aristoquinoline, and aristone.{{Cite journal |last1=Arias |first1=Hugo R. |last2=Ortells |first2=Marcelo O. |last3=Feuerbach |first3=Dominik |last4=Burgos |first4=Viviana |last5=Paz |first5=Cristian |date=2019-07-26 |title=Alkaloids Purified from Aristotelia chilensis Inhibit the Human α3β4 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor with Higher Potencies Compared with the Human α4β2 and α7 Subtypes |url=https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jnatprod.9b00314 |journal=Journal of Natural Products |language=en |volume=82 |issue=7 |pages=1953–1960 |doi=10.1021/acs.jnatprod.9b00314 |pmid=31276409 |s2cid=195813700 |issn=0163-3864|url-access=subscription }}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category-inline|Aristotelia chilensis}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q2707036}}

chilensis

Category:Flora of Argentina

Category:Flora of Chile

Category:Trees of Chile

Category:Berries

Category:Fruits originating in South America

Category:Dioecious plants

Category:Flora of the Valdivian temperate forests