Desiccation tolerance of seeds of Bunchosia armenica (Cav.) DC.

Abstract

The seeds have different behaviors and tolerance to moisture loss. In order to determine desiccation tolerance in seeds of Bunchosia armenia (Cav.) DC. (Ameixa-do-Pará) was collected a lot of fruits of this species in Areia-PB. After the manual pulping the seeds were exposed to dry on paper towel, under laboratory conditions (22°C and 85% RH) and greenhouse (24°C and 80% RH). Treatments consisted of sampling for the determination of water content and seedling emergence tests at baseline and after 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 hours. The water content was measured by the oven method at 105 ± 3°C for 24 hours using four replicates of 10 seeds for each treatment. The seedling emergence test was conducted in a greenhouse with four replications of 25 seeds. The count of emergence has beenheld every two days, for a period of 35th day and calculated the IVE, length and dry mass of seedlings. The drying of the seeds of B.armenica, in both environments is viable for up to 24 hours; After 24 hours of drying the water content of seeds is reduced from 62.6% to 57%, a level considered critical to the desiccation of the seeds of Ameixa-do-Pará in both environments; Ameixa-do-Pará seeds nuts are dispersed with very high water content, and small reduction in physiological quality compromises their value, allowing the seeds to characterize this species as recalcitrant.