ANÁLISE DE SEMENTES DE TOMATE DE DIFERENTES ESTÁGIOS DE MATURIDADE FISIOLÓGICA E SOB PERÍODOS DE REPOUSO DE FRUTOS

Abstract

Determining the physiological maturity point of the fruit or seed at harvest is very important to obtain high quality seed lots. The tomato fruit, being climacteric, has among its characteristics the continuity of seed maturity even after harvest. The objective of this work was to analyze the quality of saladette tomato seeds in physiological maturity stages and fruit rest periods. The experiment was carried out from October 2020 to March 2021 at the Seed Laboratory (LAS) of the Instituto Federal Goiano - Campus Ceres. The statistical arrangement of the experiment was a completely randomized design of 2 x 5. The treatments were two stages of maturity and five rest periods of fruits (0, 4, 8, 12 and 16 days) and four replications. Seed quality was evaluated from the tests: Standard Germination Test, Emergence Test, Seedling Dry Mass, Seedling Height, Number of Leaves, Emergence Speed Index, Moisture Degree, Seed Purity Analysis, Aging Accelerated), Seed Electrical Conductivity and Thousand Seed Mass. The data were subjected to statistical control with analysis of variance being the means for the two stages of maturity and regression analysis for the resting period of fruits. The stage of total maturity of saladete tomato fruits showed higher seed quality results. The zero-day rest period for tomato fruits showed greater results for germination, mass of a thousand seeds and accelerated aging. The eight-day rest period of tomato fruits provided better results for the emergence speed index and seedling height. Saladete tomato seeds can be extracted in two stages of physiological maturity and without resting the fruit.