The objective of this work was to evaluate the physiological quality of osmoprimed eggplant seeds subjected to drying. Eggplant seeds of the cultivar Embu, primed in aerated KNO3 (-0.8 MPa) solution, at 25ºC, for 48 hours, were used. The seeds were subjected to the following procedures: reduction of initial moisture content (r), heat shock (CT), and slow (SL) or fast drying (SR) for 48 hours. The combination of these procedures formed the treatments: primed seeds without drying, SL, SR, CTSL, CTSR, rSL, rSR, rCTSL, and rCTSR, besides a control (seeds without priming). Seeds primed and those dried slowly expressed higher germination percentage. No difference was observed among treatments for seedling emergence percentage. The control took more time to express maximum emergence than the other treatments. Seeds subjected to heat shock presented higher values of electrical conductivity than those that did not undergo this treatment. The physiological quality of eggplant seeds gained with priming is maintained after drying. The drying of primed eggplant seeds should be preferably performed slowly, with or without reduction of initial moisture content.
Solanum melongena; enzymatic activity; physiological priming; scanning electron microscopy
