Quality of organically produced bell pepper seeds

José Luiz Nogueira,Camila Ribeiro De Souza Grzybowski,Maristela Panobianco,Átila Francisco Mógor,Bruna Ariane Da Silva

doi:10.1590/2317-1545v39n2159173

José Luiz Nogueira, Camila Ribeiro De Souza Grzybowski + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/2317-1545v39n2159173

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Abstract

Abstract: The production of bell pepper seeds may be affected by the plant management and harvesting point of fruits. The goal of this study was to evaluate the quality of organically produced bell pepper seeds according to free plant growth, branch thinning and ripening stage. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse with randomized block design; plants were tutored to parallel tape supports, with and without branch thinning, and fruits were harvested at three ripening stages (completely green, green/reddish and red). The following determinations were made: seed moisture content of at the time of harvest and after post-harvest rest, number of seeds per fruit, seed germination, and seedling emergence. It is possible to conclude that the production of bell pepper seeds in an organic system is viable, resulting in seeds with a germination percentage and seedling emergence above 90%. The management system of plants without branch thinning results in the production of seeds with greater viability and higher quantity per fruit. The cultivation of bell peppers for seed production may be carried out with fruits at the green ripening stage (51 days after anthesis), without any quality loss.

Highlights

The bell pepper (Capsicum annum L.), a species belonging to the Solanaceae family, occupies an outstanding position among the vegetables that are commercialized in Brazil (Antoniali et al, 2012), with an annual production of approximately 290 thousand tons; the Southeastern region is the most representative one in this total (Martins et al, 2014)
The organic cultivation of vegetables in Brazil is still performed with conventional seeds, due to the need for deep transformations in the production process in order to obtain organic seeds, and not because of the fact that there is a significant volume of companies working in this market
As for the number of seeds per fruit, it is possible to observe in Table 1 that there was no interaction between the two analyzed factors; there was only the effect provided by the management

Summary

Introduction

The bell pepper (Capsicum annum L.), a species belonging to the Solanaceae family, occupies an outstanding position among the vegetables that are commercialized in Brazil (Antoniali et al, 2012), with an annual production of approximately 290 thousand tons; the Southeastern region is the most representative one in this total (Martins et al, 2014). In the seed sector, according to the last survey performed, approximately four tons of bell pepper seeds were traded (ABCSEM, 2009). The organic cultivation of vegetables in Brazil is still performed with conventional seeds, due to the need for deep transformations in the production process in order to obtain organic seeds, and not because of the fact that there is a significant volume of companies working in this market. In the attempt to promote public policies to stimulate the sector, Normative Ruling n. 46 (Brasil, 2011) defined the limit date December 19th, 2013 for the use of conventional seeds and seedlings in organic systems; the dead line was prorogated to 2016, since each state will have to produce annually a group of species and cultivars in which it will only be possible to use organic seeds in organic cultivations, considering the availability of the market (Brasil, 2014)

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