QUALIDADE DE SEMENTES DE MILHETO EM DIFERENTES ETAPAS DE BENEFICIAMENTO E SUBMETIDAS AO ARMAZENAMENTO

Abstract

Processing is essential because it removes unwanted materials and reduces the water content of the seeds so that they can be stored for long periods, but the more the seeds are subjected to equipment in this process, the greater the chances of mechanical damage and interfering with the final quality of the seed. product. Although current equipment uses new technologies in seed processing, it is necessary to evaluate the chemical and physiological quality of millet seeds after these steps. Thus, the objective of this work was to store millet seeds for six months after passing through different stages of processing (equipment) in the Seed Processing Unit, analyzing the seeds for physiological and chemical quality. Initially, the seeds underwent a pre-cleaning and were later submitted to the beneficiation process. In the pre-processing, the seeds went through the following steps: 1 - granary, 2 - dryer, 3 - lung silo, 4 - density table 3, 5 - post-cleaning machine and 6 - density tables 1 and 2, totaling 6 pieces of equipment, and the last equipment (density table 1 and 2) was considered as a single treatment, being considered as a single equipment for the removal of samples, as in treatment 4 (density table 3). After passing through each of the equipment, three samples of the seeds containing approximately two kg were collected, totaling 18 samples. The seeds were analyzed for water content, electrical conductivity, germination, first count, seedling length, seedling dry mass, germination speed index, seedling emergence in the field, emergence speed index, accelerated aging, proteins, carbohydrates, ash and lipids. It was possible to conclude that millet seed processing is essential to obtain higher quality batches, thus enabling storage for longer periods, minimizing quality losses. The processing stages analyzed did not influence the quality of the seed lots in relation to chemical and physiological analyses. The storage time had a negative influence on some treatments, mainly in relation to the tests of seedling length and electrical conductivity, the germination speed index obtained higher values ​​at storage time 1 (3 months).