Efeito de manchas na qualidade de sementes híbridas de milho processadas em separador por cor

Abstract

Implementation and adaptation of modern technologies which facilitate to evaluate seed quality are regularly factors targeted by the companies. Seeds damaged and stained have the physical, physiological and sanitary quality affected. Therefore, aiming to investigate alternatives for making decisions for improving the processing, the objective in this work was to evaluate the quality of hybrid seeds of maize derived from the color classification by Color Sorter equipment. Four hybrids classified as stained seeds through the Color Sorter machine and manually, resulting in five samples: input corresponding to the classified seeds before passage through the machine; manual separation of seeds without and with stained; and separation by machine in approved seeds considered as seeds without stain and discarded seeds named as stained. Also to assess the efficiency of Color Sorter machine, part of the discarded portion has been separate by visual exam in seeds without and with stains. The statistical design was completely randomized in factorial scheme 4x5, with four hybrids and five kinds of samples. The evaluation of the seed quality were held the following tests: moisture content, thousand seed mass, X-ray test, germination, germination first count, seedling emergence, rate of emergence, cold test, accelerated aging and sanity. The use of Color Sorter machine is effective in separating seeds stained, but discards a high percentage of seeds without stains. The stained seeds identified by the Color Sorter have negatively affected their physiological quality. The type and location of the stain influence the seeds quality