The current concerns with the scarcity of oil reserves and the aggravation of the stove effect due to CO2 emission makes the castor bean oil one viable sources for renewable energy. During the crop growth racemes are produced in several orders that develop under different environment conditions, which can cause variations in quality of the seeds on the field and storage. The purpose of this work was to evaluate effect of harvest and five periods of storage on sanitary quality of seeds of castor bean cultivar IAC-2028. The evaluation of the quality of the seeds consisted of germination and sanitary test immediately after harvest, and at 3; 6; 9 and 12 months of storage under uncontrolled conditions of air temperature and relative humidity. The results suggest that all the racemes can be harvested in a single harvesting time, without losses quality of the castor bean seeds.
Ricinus communis L.; racemes; agronomic maturity; fungi
