Armazenamento não controlado na qualidade de sementes de Jatropha curcas L.

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of storage in the quality of Jatropha curcas L. seeds. Seeds were collected from a commercial stand located in Eldorado (MS). Seeds were manually cleaned and stored in an uncontrolled environment facility. Seeds were sampled according to storage period equivalent to 17, 40, 66, 108 and 164 days. Seed quality was determined by determination of seed water content, the seed mass of 1000 seeds, germination and germination velocity index (GVI). Germination and GVI tests used constant temperatures of 25 or 30 oC and two substrates (sterilized sand and paper rolls). Germination percentage and GVI with seeds stored for 17 and 40 days yielded 71.5 % and 29 while seeds from the other storage periods yielded values of 52 %, 21 % and 23%, and of 19, 21 and 23, respectively. Recent harvested seeds stored for up to 40 days under uncontrolled environment expressed the highest viability and germinated faster than seeds from the stored from longer periods.