Desection tolerance of seeds of Butia eriospatha (Mart. Ex Drude) Becc

Abstract

The low germination values found in the literature for Butia eriospatha may reflect the physiology of the specie’s seeds, which, in addition to having dormancy, may have a recalcitrant behavior in relation to drying and storage. Therefore, the objective of this work was to classify the seeds as to desiccation tolerance, using fast and slow drying methods, and to define the critical and lethal water contents. Seeds were collected in Lages/SC, processed and immediately tested for viability (tetrazolium test) and water content determined. The seeds were submitted to the protocol proposed by Hong and Ellis (1996), with adaptations in relation to the drying methods. Drying by fast (oven and silica gel) and slow (Magnesium Chloride) methods were used. The critical and lethal moistures were also defined by means of slow drying (Magnesium Chloride) at levels of 18%, 16%, 14%, 12% and 10%. It is concluded that Butia eriospatha seeds are classified as recalcitrant, and moisture values close to 14% as critical and 10% as lethal.