Geographical and Climatic Variation of Pinus oocarpa Resin in Southern Mexico Provenances

In Mexico there is a deficit in the production of pine resin, because it depends on natural forests. Therefore, it is necessary to select provenances and phenotypes of potential species such as P. oocarpa. The objective was to determine the difference between provenances and the variation of resin components and quality, as well as the effect of geographic and climatic factors. Resin from five provenances was collected from southern Mexico. The percentage of rosin, turpentine and water was obtained, as well as the acidity and saponification index. P. oocarpa resin had 80. 94 % rosin, 7. 7 % turpentine and 11. 49 % water. The saponification and acidity index was 125. 47 and 117. 49 mg KOH. g₁, respectively. All variables showed differences (p≤ 0. 0001) between provenances. The provenance contributed between 6. 44 and 11. 71 % to the total variance, the error contributed between 88. 29 and 93. 56 %. Geographic and climatic variables only had an effect on the percentage of turpentine; the correlation was negative with altitude and longitude, but positive with temperature and precipitation. The results allow defining seed collection sites for resin plantations and orienting the selection for a P. oocarpa improvement program.