PHYSIOLOGICAL QUALITY OF SEEDS OF Enterolobium contortisiliquum (VELL.) MORONG. STORED

The species Enterolobium contortisiliquum (Nell.) Morong., (Fabaceae) is widely distributed in Brazil, commonly found in the Atlantic Forest domain Despite its importance for the ecosystems, studies based on storage of E. contortisiliquum seeds are scarce. The objective of this work was to evaluate the physiological quality of seeds of Enterolobium contortisiliquum stored in different packages, environments and storage periods. The seeds were obtained from ripe fruits at the beginning of the natural dispersion in seven selected trees, located in the municipality of Areia - Paraiba, between the months of November and December 2010 and then taken to the laboratory for analysis of Seeds of the Department of Plant Science and Environmental Agricultural Sciences Center of the Universidade Federal da Paraiba. A completely randomized design was used, with subdivided plots, being the major portion constituted by environments (lab, cold storage chamber, freezer and fridge), a sub-plot for the packages (kraft paper bag, cloth, aluminum, plastic (PP) and PET bottle) and the sub plot constituted by the storage periods (0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 210, 240 and 270 days). For the evaluation of physiological quality was determined by water content, percentage of emergence, length and dry weight of shoots and roots. The packing of seeds of E. contortisiliquum can be made in polypropylene plastic bags (PP) and they can be stored under natural laboratory environment for 270 days with no decrease of seed vigor.