Maturação fisiológica de sementes de berinjela

Abstract

The demand for eggplant has increased in the last years, stimulated mainly by the researches proving the nutraceutical potential of this food, however, the information and technologies for the production of seeds with high quality are limited. The objective of this work was to define the period of physiological maturity of eggplant cv. Embu and the ideal point for fruit harvesting for seed extraction, based on their physiological quality. The fruits were harvested on different days after the anthesis (40, 47, 54, 61, 68, 75 and 82 DAA), and the seeds were extracted and divided into two batches: fresh and dried to 8% water content. Tests of moisture, dry matter, weight of one thousand seeds, electric conductivity, germination, germination speed index, primary root protrusion, primary root protrusion velocity index, emergence and emergency speed index were performed. The physiological maturity of the seeds was in the range of 68 to 82 DAA and the point of maximum physiological quality was 82 DAA, when they presented higher germination and vigor (on average 80% and 4% respectively), mainly considering the ability to generate normal seedlings, both for fresh seeds and for dry seeds.