Abstract
Abstract: The expansion of açai production has increased the importance of management of seeds used for replanting or expanding the plantation areas. Thus, the aim of this work was to evaluate the performance of açai seeds with different moisture contents, treated or untreated with fungicide, and stored for 180 days. The seeds were divided into three moisture levels (35%, 30% and 20%), and with or without fungicide treatment, with four storage evaluation periods (0, 60, 120 and 180 days). They were packed in plastic bags and kept in natural environment. The experimental design was completely randomized, with a 3 x 2 x 4 factorial scheme (moisture contents x treated or untreated with fungicide x period of evaluation), with four replications of 50 seeds each. The following tests were conducted: moisture content, germination, tetrazolium test, seedling emergence, seedling emergence speed and X-ray. Açai seeds with 35% and 30% moisture contents treated with fungicide showed a better physiological quality in relation to the untreated ones. Storage longer than 120 days reduced seed germination to values below 50%, regardless of whether they were treated or not with fungicide, although the reduction was greater in untreated seeds. The fungicide treatment is efficient in controlling fungi in açai seeds with 30% and 20% moisture content for up to 180 days of storage, and in seeds with 35% moisture content for up to 60 days of storage.
Highlights
The palm tree Euterpe oleracea Mart., popularly known as açai, has garnered attention due to the expansion of the fruit pulp and the palm heart commerce, which is extremely important to the Amazon region (Nascimento et al, 2010; Nascimento and Moraes, 2011)
One of the main problems observable even in short periods of storage is the need for high relative humidity and high seed moisture, in order to maintain viability
Despite the fact that the seeds were stored in an uncontrolled environment (Figure 1), which may have led to a more intense water exchange between them and the environment due to higher temperature and relative humidity (RH) oscillations, the variation observed during storage stayed below two percentage points, when the lowest and the highest moisture contents reached by seeds were compared
Summary
The palm tree Euterpe oleracea Mart., popularly known as açai, has garnered attention due to the expansion of the fruit pulp and the palm heart commerce, which is extremely important to the Amazon region (Nascimento et al, 2010; Nascimento and Moraes, 2011). With the expansion of açai production, the management of seeds used to replant or expand the plantation area became more important, because this is the most usual form of propagation of the species It presents recalcitrant seeds, that is, seeds that are intolerant to desiccation (Barbedo and Marcos-Filho, 1998). One of the main problems observable even in short periods of storage is the need for high relative humidity and high seed moisture, in order to maintain viability. This is how conservation is generally done. This type of storage causes proliferation of microorganisms, which favors deterioration, reducing vigor or causing the death of the seeds (Berjak, 1995; Nascimento and Moraes, 2011)
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