Abstract

ANTONIO-BAUTISTA, A. et al. Hygroscopic equilibrium in forest seeds of arid zone and its effect on physiological quality. Polibotánica [online]. 2020, n.50, pp.67-81.  Epub Nov 25, 2020. ISSN 1405-2768.  https://doi.org/10.18387/polibotanica.50.5.

Forest seeds are the material mostly used for the mass production of plants; the species of arid zones do not produce seed every year, it is necessary to have germplasm in quantity and quality that allow obtaining new individuals. Knowing the moisture in equilibrium, allows establishing safe storage times, for a certain time. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of the moisture content of Balance on the physiological quality in seeds of Agave lecheguilla Torr., Lippia graveolens Kunt., and Nolina cespitifera Trel., during storage. The seeds were stored for a period of 90 days under 12 environments, were evaluated at 0, 15, 30, 60 and 90 days, with four repetitions of 100 seeds, physiological tests and seed moisture were performed using international procedures of the Association International Seed Analysis Association (ISTA, 2014). The variables evaluated were seed moisture (HS), germination speed index (IVG), percentage of normal seedlings (PN), percentage of abnormal seedlings (PA), percentage of dead seeds (SM) and percentage of hard seeds (SD), The experimental design was factorial according to completely randomized treatments. The results showed that the seeds stored at 60-75% relative humidity and 5-15 °C did not significantly lose their germination capacity, the HS ranged between 12-13%, the highest HS values were are obtained at 80- 85% relative humidity and in response, the percentage of PN decreased considerably between 5.0 and 18.5%. In the three species under study, equilibrium moisture is strongly affected by storage conditions, high relative humidity and temperature cause high equilibrium humidity, negatively affecting physiological quality and causing rapid deterioration.

Keywords : Storage; Germination; Deterioration; Equilibrium of Moisture; Longevity.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )