Conditioning in the promotion and uniformization of Umbu seed germination

Abstract Seed dormancy may decrease during storage and some environmental conditions may accelerate this process. The aim of this work was to determine efficient techniques to condition umbu seeds in order to promote and standardize their germination. Seeds were stored for 180 days in paper bags kept in five ambient conditions: laboratory (25 ºC and 55% RH); warm oven (40 °C and 53% RH); hot oven (50 °C and 49% RH); dry chamber (18 °C and 65% RH) and cold chamber (10 °C and 65% RH). Seed quality was evaluated every 60 days by means of the following tests and determinations: water content; germination test (25 °C and 55% RH, weekly evaluated up to 91 days after sowing); first count test (14 days); germination rate index; mean germination time and electrical conductivity. The conditioning of umbu seeds in laboratory, or in warm oven (40 ºC) used efficient techniques to promote and standardize germination; under these conditions, after six months of storage, germination increased from 31% to 84 and 74%, respectively.

摘要：种子休眠可在贮藏过程中逐步解除，部分环境条件可加速该进程。本研究旨在确定高效的umbu种子引发技术，以促进其萌发并统一萌发整齐度。研究将umbu种子装于纸袋中，在5种环境条件下贮藏180天：实验室环境（25℃、相对湿度55%）、恒温烘箱（40℃、相对湿度53%）、高温烘箱（50℃、相对湿度49%）、干燥箱（18℃、相对湿度65%）及冷藏箱（10℃、相对湿度65%）。每60天通过以下测试与测定项目评价种子品质：含水量、发芽试验（25℃、相对湿度55%，播种后每周观测直至播种后91天）、发芽势试验（14天观测）、发芽指数、平均萌发时间及电导率。在实验室环境或40℃恒温烘箱中对umbu种子进行引发处理，可有效促进并统一其萌发：经6个月贮藏后，这两种处理下的种子发芽率分别从31%提升至84%与74%。