ISHS Acta Horticulturae 503: II WOCMAP Congress Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Part 4: Industrial Processing, Standards & Regulations, Quality, Marketing, Economics
EFFECT OF DIFFERENT STORAGE CONDITIONS ON ACHYROCLINE SATUREIOIDES (ASTERACEAE) SEEDS |
| Authors: | F.C. Marques, I.B.I. de Barros |
| Keywords: | Seed storage, marcela, Achyrocline satureioides, Brazilian herbs |
| Abstract:
Achyrocline satureioides (Lam.) D.C. (marcela, macela) is a South American medicinal shrub widely used in folk medicine. Extracts of its inflorescences exhibited anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antispasmodic, constipating and sedative activities in pharmacological investigations. The aim of this work was to observe the influence of storage conditions on seed quality. Achenes of A. satureioides were stored for six months under five conditions: paper bags on ambiental conditions at 19 to 23°C (T1); paper bags on desiccator with silica gel at 19 to 23°C (T2) and at 5 to 6°C (T3); vapor proof alulaminated PE bags (T4); sealed small amber bottles (T5). Germination tests and moisture content determinations were carried out every thirty days. Seeds were harvested in March 1994 at Eldorado do Sul (State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil). In the beginning of storage period, seeds showed 68% of germination capacity and 10,8% of moisture content. Germination tests were applied using 50 achenes replicated five times at 20°C and constant light (27,708 μE/m2/s or 1036,25 lux). The moisture contents were determined using four replications of 0,05g by the constant temperature (105°C ± 3°C) oven method. Use of hermetical conditions (T4 and T5) allowed an increase in moisture content (2 to 3,5%) and decline in germination capacity. Therefore, moisture content of 10,8% is too high for hermetically sealed storage methods. The use of paper bag storage at ambiental conditions decreased seed viability and changes in moisture content were observed. These facts were expected due to the great influence of ambiental temperature and relative humidity. The best results were achieved with methods using. T2 maintained moisture at the initial level during six months. T2 and T3 promoted an increase in germination during the storage period (68% to 71%) suggesting a post-harvest effect. | |
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader (free software to read PDF files) | |
