One of the greatest problems faced in citrus growing during the process of seedling formation is the slow germination and poor longevity of seeds. Factors such as water content in seeds, environmental temperature and sort of package may influence the viability of seeds during storage. In this sense, the objective of the work was to evaluate the behavior of the seeds of cravo lemon either treated or not with fungicides, packed with four water contents and in three types of packages during storage. After being harvested, the fruits were pulped mechanically and the seeds degummed. To reach the desired water contents (44, 27, 13 and 9%) the seeds were submitted to drying in the shade. A part of the sample of the seeds, was treated with the mixture of the fungicides Tecto 100 (200g/100kg of seeds) and Captan 75 (300g/100kg of seeds) and the other part was given no treatment. Next, the samples were packed into impermeable, semi-permeable and permeable packages and stored under environmental conditions and cold chamber for nine months. The experiment was conducted in the UFLA seed analysis laboratory. In three month, tests of germination, of artificial aging, of water content and sanity were accomplished. The seeds of cravo lemon behaved as recalcitrant from the sixth month of storage, mainth for the samples paked in semipermeable and permeable pakages and storage in environment condition. The best conditions for the conservation of seeds of cravo lemon were the packing with 44 e 27% of water content in impermeable package and in cold chamber. The treatment with fungicide of seeds at the moment of the storage is also advised for greater safety in the maintenance of physiological quality during storage.
seeds; citrus; storage
