Métodos para superação de dormência em sementes de Capsicum chinense

Abstract

The cultivation of sweet pepper (Capsicum chinense) in Brazil occurs from North to South of the country. The crop has economic and social importance, because in addition to contributing to the country's economic activity, pepper is cultivated by small farmers and requires labor. Numbness in the genus Capsicum occurs rapidly and irregularly. This factor can affect the quality of a seed lot, directly affecting the germination process and the uniformity of seedling emergence in the field, which will compromise the productivity of the crop. The mechanisms involved in the dormancy of a seed can be physiological or physical in nature and the mechanism is installed during the maturation phase of the seed or after seed dispersal induced by stress conditions. The objective of this study was to evaluate different methods to overcome dormancy in Capsicum chinense seeds. The treatments used were: (T): control (T1); immersion in gibberellic acid (GA3) solution at 10-4 mol L-1 for 1 hour (T2); oven drying at 60 °C for 24 hours (T3); rinse under running water for 1 hour (T4); wetting the substrate with 0.2 % potassium nitrate (KNO3) solution (T5); and freezing at 0 °C for 24 hours (T6). Germination (%F), emergence speed (VG) and emergence speed index (IVG) were evaluated as parameters. Washing in running water (T4) showed better germination results of Capsicum chinense. GA3 induced a faster germination of the seeds, but its germination percentage was lower than that of the control itself. Drying in an oven at 60 °C is not a recommended method since it did not promote satisfactory seed germination. The inhibitory effect of KNO3 and GA3 made the seeds vulnerable to fungal attack.