Maturação dos frutos na emergência de plântulas e no potencial frutífero de pitangueira-do-cerrado (Eugenia calycina Cambess)

Abstract

CHAPTER II: Eugenia calycina is a fruit bearing species which is present in areas of the Savannah, whose fruit and seed morpho-physiological characteristics are rare. This being so, the objectives of the study were to quantify the influence of fruit coloration in the morphophysiological characters of fruit and seeds of the species; to determine pulp yield and to indicate the potential of the species for genetic improvement programs. In November 2006, fruits in green, orange, bright-red and dark-red colorations, 50 of each coloration were collected, their seeds extracted and both measured with relation to length and width, as well as fresh and dry weight pulp. In November 2007, from 20 matrixes, the number of fruits per plant and pulp yield was determined. The distribution for t Student was used to build confidential intervals for length, width and fresh and dry weight pulp and test the correlation coefficient between characters of the fruit and fresh weight pulp. Frequencies asymmetry and kurtosis measurements indicated the nature of the width and length distribution. Great ranges were observed in fruit size (8-20 mm width; 10-30 mm length) and seeds (8-14 mm width; 7-14 mm length), within the same maturation stage. The symmetrical and mesokurtic nature of the width and length distributions of the fruit and seeds reveal their genetic potential for selection, even with the anthropization of their area of occurrence. The production of fruit per plant was variable (3 to 20), with pulp yield estimated at 59.1%. CHAPTER III: The occurrence of fruit bearing species extensively cultivated in Brazil gives evidence to the need for a better knowledge of native flora and preservation of natural vegetable resources. The aimed was quantifying the influence of the coloration of Eugenia calycina Cambess. fruits in the emergency and development process of seedlings with the purpose of production of same. For the collection, green, orange, bright-red and dark-red coloring patterns of the fruit were established. These indicated the different maturation stages. The emergency experiment was installed in randomized block design, with four treatments (maturation stages) and seven repetitions of 28 seeds, totaling 28 parcels. To evaluate the seedling development, two independent experiments were installed both in randomized block design, using seedlings from the emergency test. In the first experiment, the treatments consisted of seedlings from the emergency test in different maturation stages (green, orange, bright-red and dark-red) and in the second, they consisted of a mixture of substrata containing commercial, vermicular and coconut peel substratum in different proportions. The fruit maturation stages did not affect the emergency process significantly, not even with regards to the increments in hypocotyls height, root length, stem diameter and number of leaves. The seedling emergence capacity was high (83.67 to 90.31%), however, on average, less than one seedling emerged per day (VE = 0.737 to 0.819 seedlings per day). Seedling growth was slow, maximum of 7 cm in 210 days, even when substratum was supplemented with chemical dressing (osmocote®), coconut peel and vermicular substratum.