Effect of fruits maturation stage and vegetal regulators in the physiological quality of seeds sweet passion fruit cv. BRS Mel do Cerrado

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of fruit maturation stages and pre-germination treatments with plant regulators on the physiological quality of seeds of cv. BRS Mel do Cerrado. Two experiments were carried out, germination and emergence, installed in a completely randomized design in a 3 x 2 factorial arrangement, with three stages maturation (1-partially ripe fruits; 2-fully ripe fruits and 3-senescent fruits) and two pre-germination treatments (1. [GA4+7 +N-(phenylmethyl)-aminopurine (300 ppm)] and 2. distilled water), forming six treatments with four replications of 50 seeds. The evaluated characteristics were germination percentage at 14 and 35 days, germination speed index (GSI), emergence percentage and emergence speed index (ESI). Germination at 14 days, GSI and seedling emergence were not affected by the maturation stage, however germination and GSI were higher when the plant regulator was used. The final percentage of germination was higher in seeds taken from partially ripe fruits and treated with regulators and a higher ESI was observed for seeds from senescent fruits and treated with regulator. Seeds treated with plant regulators are more vigorous and have a higher rate of seedling emergence.