Physiological maturation of seeds of Eugenia pyriformis Cambess and Eugenia involucrata DC

The genus Eugenia presents several fruit species with a potential for cultivation. This study aimed to analyze the physiological maturation of seeds of Eugenia pyriformis Cambess and Eugenia involucrata DC. Fruits were manually collected from eight adult trees in the town of Santa Helena, Parana, Brazil. They were characterized into four stages according to pigmentation for E. pyriformis and into five stages for E. involucrata. The evaluations consisted of germination test, mean germination time calculation, and determination of seeds dry weight and moisture content. The design adopted was completely randomized, with four replications of 25 seeds. Data underwent a variance analysis and the average values were compared through Tukey test at 5% probability. The pigmentation of E. pyriformis and E. involucrata fruits may be used as a parameter for the evaluation of physiological maturity of seeds. One suggests collecting seeds of E. pyriformis between the green/yellow and yellow/orange fruit pigmentation stages, and in the bright red fruit pigmentation stage regarding E. involucrata.doi: 10.5007/2175-7925.2012v25n3p11