EFFECTIVENESS OF METHODS TO INCREASE THE GERMINATION RATE OF JURUBEBA (Solanum paniculatum L.) SEEDS

Abstract

Seeds from ripe jurubeba berries (Solanum paniculatum) were collected from mother shrubs at the Alternative Medicine Hospital, in Goiânia, Goiás State, Brazil, in November 2002. Samples of pure seeds were detached from the collected fruits and submitted to the following treatments: 1- washing under running water for five minutes; 2- washing under running water for five minutes, immersion in domestic detergent solution (15 mL/100 mL H2O) for five minutes, and washing under running water for two minutes; 3- washing under running water for five minutes and immersion in domestic detergent solution (15 mL/100 mL H2O) for five minutes, followed by immersion in sodium hypochlorite solution (15 mL NaClO/100 mL H2O) for five minutes, and  washing under running water for two minutes; 4- control (intact seeds). Four replications of 25 seeds per treatment were submitted to a germination test. A completely randomized design was used for statistical analysis. It was possible to conclude that the use of detergent and sodium hypochlorite increases the germination percentage in jurubeba, although it does not differ significantly (p > 0,05) from washing the seeds under running water.

KEY-WORDS: Seed technology; dormancy.