Effect of gibberellic acid on germination potential in vitro seed Carica quercifolia (St. Hil.). Hieron. (Caricaceae)

Abstract

The species Carica quercifolia (St. Hil.). Hieron. (Caricaceae), native to the region west of Santa Catarina has ornamental potential and fruitful, however, its seeds have low germination rates. Thus, the objective was to evaluate the effect of gibberellic acid (GA) on seed germination of C. quercifolia in vitro. Initially, the seeds were subjected to an aseptic treatment with sodium hypochlorite and 70% alcohol, then subjected to five different treatments with gibberellic acid (control, 50, 100, 150 and 200 mg.L-1) and subsequently inoculatedinoculated on MS medium. Each treatment had 12 replications and six sub-repetitions. After inoculation, seeds were kept in a germination chamber with a photoperiod of 16 hours (50 mol photons m-² s-¹) and temperature of 26 ± 2 ° C. The onset of germination was observed at day 35 of culture only in treatments with 100 and 200 mg L-1 GA. After 42 days of cultivation, there was low germination rate in both control seeds and seeds treated with GA, and there were no statistically significant differences. The results suggest that the concentrations of GA were used possibly lower, unable to induce the germination C. quercifolia.