Seed size in many species may be an indication of their physiological quality. The objective of this study was to evaluate the physiological performance of castor bean seeds sorted by size. The experiment was conducted at the Seed Research Laboratory of the Department of Plant Science at the Federal University of Viçosa. Seeds of four castor bean cultivars, IAC 226, IAC 80, Al Guarany 2002 and BRS 188 Paraguaçu were used. The seeds were harvested from all the plant racemes and classified into three different seed sizes for each cultivar. Tests were conducted to evaluate germination and vigor: germination at the 4th day, germination at the 7th day, accelerated ageing, seedling length of roots and shoots and fresh and dry weights of the seedlings. Based on the results for IAC 226 and BRS 188 Paraguaçu there is a tendency for smaller seeds to show higher speeds and final percentage of germination but this was not the case for the IAC and 80 Al Guarany 2002.
Ricinus communis L.; processing; sieve; germination
