Germinação de sementes de café (Coffea arabica L.) submetidas a diferentes concentrações e tempos de embebição em celulase

Abstract

The seeds of coffee trees germinate slowly, because the seeding is done soon after the crop is harvested, what coincides with the cold period of the year, and also due to the parchment, which constitutes a barrier that hinders the absorption of water for the seed. Aiming to evaluate the effect of exogen application of cellulase enzyme to coffee seed germination, an experiment was performed soaking coffee seeds, cultivar Acaiá do Cerrado , in cellulase solution at different concentrations (0, 1.6, 3.2, and 6.4, g L-1) in 0.05 M K-citrate buffer at pH 4.8 for 0, 72, and 144 hours. It was found that the cellulase enzyme at the concentration of 6.4 g L-1 provided the greatest index of speed germination and the greatest germination percentage when the seeds remained in contact with the solution for 144 hours.