SAPODILLA (Achras sapota L.) SEEDS: DORMANCY AND EMERGENCE

Abstract

The aim of the present research was to evaluate the efficiency of different pre-germinating methods for breaking the dormancy of sapodilla (Achras sapota L.) seeds. The treatments were: control; immersion in water at 60 and 70°C until cooling to the environment temperature (27°C), scarification with sandpaper no 100, followed by water imbibition for 24 and 48 hours, and stratification in sand, in the refrigerator (10 ± 1°C) for five days. The seeds were placed to germinate at depth of 2.0 cm in trays containing sand and dung (3:1), distributed in four repetitions of 25 seeds, in a greenhouse at the seeds sector of Centro de Ciências Agrárias da UFPB, Areia, PB. The immersion in water at 60°C until cooling to the environment temperature and the scarification with sandpaper no 100, followed by water imbibition for 24 hours, showed higher percentages of emergence (72%) in relation to the other pre-germinating treatments, although they did not differ statistically from the control (68%). In relation to the emergence speed rate, the lower values occurred with sandpaper no 100 followed by imbibition for 48 hours (0,13) and immersion in water under 70°C to the environment temperature (0,18). Therefore, these pregerminating methods should not be used in sapodilla seeds.

KEY-WORDS: Achras sapota; pregerminating methods; mergence speed rate.