Qualidade fisiológica de sementes de açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) em função do estádio de maturação do fruto

Abstract

Açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) is a palm tree belonging to the Arecaceae family which propagates via seed. During its maturation process, the seed undergoes physiological, morphological and biochemical changes that directly influence its quality affecting vigor and germination capacity. Despite the importance of this process there are still few studies investigating the quality of açaí seeds. Therefore, the objective was to evaluate the physiological quality of açaí seeds harvested at different stages of fruit ripening. The study was conducted at the Federal Institute of Amapá - Porto Grande Agricultural Campus. The experimental design was completely randomized with four replicates, except for length which used five replicates. Data were analyzed by analysis of variance and means compared by Tukey's test at 5% probability. Açaí fruits were harvested from a rural property in the city of Porto Grande-AP at three stages of maturation: paró, vitrin and tuíra which constituted the treatments. After harvesting, fruits were pulped in blenders and the seeds were then washed in running water and subsequently dried at room temperature. Then, seeds were subjected to the following tests: moisture content, weight of a thousand seeds, germination, first count, emergence, electrical conductivity, seedling length and dry mass of seedlings. There was an effect of fruit maturation stage on the physiological quality of seeds. Based on the results, it was concluded that E. oleracea seeds from fruits with tuíra coloration presented greater germination and vigor, indicating that it is the ideal maturation stage to produce high-quality seedlings.