Dormancy and germination of Annona macroprophyllata (Annonaceae): The importance of the micropylar plug and seed position in the fruits

Abstract

Annona macroprophyllata (papausa or ilama) is an economically important species of fruit that is consumed in large quantities in Central America and is considered to have the finest flavour of all of the custard apples (Annonaceae). This species presents propagation problems including the six-month dormancy of the seeds, which has not been fully explained. Among the factors affecting the germination of Annona seeds are the position inside of the fruit and the presence of a micropylar woody plug. The present work addresses the importance of these factors in the germination and dormancy of this species, using a randomised design with seeds from 169 fruits of the white variety of Annona macroprophyllata. The fruits were divided into three sections (basal, middle, and apical) in which seeds were evaluated for nine months with the following parameters: the size and weight of the seeds and the viability and germination percentage considering the presence or absence of the micropylar plug. The results show no correlation between the breaking of dormancy and either the position of the seeds in the fruit or the micropylar plug, but they do establish the importance of the micropylar plug for germination. The breaking of dormancy requires storage for the length of the dry season in the tropical deciduous forest, the habitat of these plants.