Physiological maturity of Solanum sisymbriifolium seeds

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the physical and physiological quality of juá seeds (Solanum sisymbriifolium Lam.), in five maturation stages, treated with three concentrations of GA3 and submitted to the cold test. The biometric characteristics of the fruits, thousand mass and water content of the seeds, standard test and mean germination time, percentage and mean time of normal seedling formation were determined. The fruit biometry was analyzed using estimated parameters using descriptive statistics. For the other variables, a completely randomized experimental design was used in a 5 x 2 x 3 triple factorial scheme, with five maturation stages: stage 1 (green fruits), stage (2 light green fruits), stage 3 (yellow fruits), stage 4 orange fruits), and stage 5 (red-carmine fruits); seeds submitted or not to the cold test and; three concentrations of gibberellic acid (GA3), 0% (water), 0.025% (250 mg L-1) and 0.050% (500 mg L-1), with four replicates of 25 seeds each treatment. The analysis of variance showed interaction between the maturation stage of the fruits and the doses of GA3, where the maturation stages 3, 4 and 5, together with the solutions of GA3, favored the germination of the seeds. The formation of normal seedlings was higher from seeds obtained from fruits at the maturation stage 5.