Extracción y productividad de tinte natural de Juglans neotropica Diels a partir de frutos del bosque nativo “La Victoria”, cantón Macará, provincia de Loja: una perspectiva sostenible

The study was conducted in the J. neotropica forest in La Victoria, a Piedmont Semi-deciduous Forest of the Catamayo-Alamor of 0.9 ha. This species, native to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, is endangered according to the IUCN. The dye yield from ripe fruits was evaluated through a forest inventory in two phases: an initial one with statistical methods and another focused on specific objectives. This allowed the determination of natural regeneration, structural parameters, fruit-producing trees, and the amount of dye in liters per hectare. Natural regeneration was 6 individuals/ha in seedlings, 3 individuals/ha in low seedlings, and 2 individuals/ha in high saplings. A total of 31 individuals/ha were identified in eight diameter classes, with no individuals in the first class (10-19.99 cm DBH) and the highest concentration in the seventh class. The individuals had commercial heights of 12-20 meters and total heights of 15-24 meters. Seven fruit-producing trees were identified. The dye yield was estimated to average 11.1 liters/tree, with a maximum of 14.16 and a minimum of 8.04 liters/tree. These results indicate that the dye yield of J. neotropica depends on the climate, silvicultural management, age of the trees, and the presence of animals that consume the resource.