Aspectos fisiológicos de sementes de cacau influenciados pelo estádio de maturação do fruto

Abstract

The determination of the harvesting season is one of the aspects observed to obtain a high quality collection, one that can be chosen based on the stage of fruit maturation. Therefore, the objective was to evaluate the physical and physiological aspects of cocoa seeds responding from fruits at different stages of maturation and from different clones to define the ideal harvest time for propagation purposes. The design used was completely randomized, in a 4x4 factorial scheme, with four stages of maturation based on the visual color of the fruit exocarp (green, semi-green and semi-ripe) and four clones (CCN51, CEPEC 2006, PH16 e SJ02). After being extracted from the fruits, the seeds were submitted to analyzes that consisted of the assessment of natural (length, width, water and dry matter) and physiological (germination, germination speed index, seedling emergence and electrical conductivity). The biometric results have low influence of the maturation stages, not being a sufficient parameter to define the ideal harvest stage. The mature stage (yellow-orange exocarp), for the studied clones, made it possible to obtain cocoa seeds with higher quality, being indicated in general, as the ideal time for harvest.