Abstract
The physic nut is an oleaginous plant that has distinguished itself as a drought tolerant native species, with a view to producing raw material for the biodiesel production. The purpose of the study reported here was to evaluate the quality of seeds and seedlings of five physic nut genotypes. The evaluated characteristics were: humidity content, mass of 1000 seeds, seed dimensions (using caliper gauge and sieves), germination tests, vigor tests (the first count of the germination test, electrical conductivity, accelerated ageing, seedling dry mass and length, emergence, emergence speed index and analysis of emerged seedlings). The experimental design was a completely randomized block with 4 replications. All data were submitted to analysis of variance by F test and the means were compared by the Tukey test at 5% probability. The physiological quality was not influenced by the seeds dimensions. The tests of accelerated ageing, emergence percentage, shoot dry mass, seedling length and dry mass were the bests at differentiating the genotypes. The Paraguacu genotype presented characteristics that were superior in relation to the others in the evaluations of accelerated ageing, root length and seedling total length. Key words: Jatropha curcas, germination, vigor, viability, seed size.
Highlights
The physic nut (Jatropha curcas L.) that belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family, is a shrub species which can reach a height of four meters, being widely distributed in tropical and subtropical areas, and offers a potential for biodiesel production (Sujatha et al, 2008).One of the ways to enhance plant potential is the development of new technologies aimed to improve its production, to obtain qualified seeds to generate vigorous plants with high productivity
Given the lack of information referred to this culture, the present study aimed to evaluate the physical and physiological quality of seeds and seedlings of five physic nut genotypes, as well as to generate information for the standardization of tests as it is a under researched culture
The physiological quality of seeds and seedlings were determined by the test of germination and vigor
Summary
The physic nut (Jatropha curcas L.) that belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family, is a shrub species which can reach a height of four meters, being widely distributed in tropical and subtropical areas, and offers a potential for biodiesel production (Sujatha et al, 2008). Vigor, appropriate humidity content and good appearance. License 4.0 International License are indicators of good seed quality These factors, when properly balanced, provide high plant vigor, high homogeneity and, higher quality and productivity (Lacerda, 2007). The physical quality of seeds can be evaluated according to humidity, physical purity, mechanical damage, mass of 1000 seeds, size or volumetric weight and appearance (Peske et al, 2006). Given the lack of information referred to this culture, the present study aimed to evaluate the physical and physiological quality of seeds and seedlings of five physic nut genotypes, as well as to generate information for the standardization of tests as it is a under researched culture
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