Physiological maturity of seeds and colorimetry of the fruits of Allophylus edulis [(A. St.-Hil., A. Juss. & Cambess.) Hieron. ex Niederl.]

Maturidade fisiológica de sementes e colorimetria dos frutos de Allophylus edulis [(A. St.-Hil., A. Juss. & Cambess.) Hieron. ex Niederl.]

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the physiological maturity of A. edulis seeds, check if this is achieved in the same maturation stage, regardless of the collection region and, colorimetry of the fruit can be indicative of the time of harvest. Fruits were harvested in three counties of the western region of Paraná and visually classified into five ripening stages according to the color of the pericarp with the help of a digital colorimeter. Analyzed seed variables included morphological characteristics, germination and vigor. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with four replications. The maximum dry matter accumulation of seeds was reached when the fruits reached the color orange. With the advance of the ripening process, red color fruits had seeds with lesser moisture content, coinciding with the maximum germination percentage and speed, besides generating seedlings with larger size and biomass accumulation. The green spectrum allowed to discriminate maturity from different places of harvest. A. edulis seeds with physiological maturity should be harvested when fruits present the red color, independent of the harvesting region or, with reflectance values between 28.0 and 49.2 nm in the green range of the color spectrum.

Index terms: vacum; harvesting season; ripening; color analyzer