Biometria de frutos e germinação de sementes de Moringa oleifera Lam.

Abstract

Moringa oleifera is widely distributed in the tropical regions, its tolerance to drought, added to the nutritional and economic potentialities, has made of it an important alternative of cultivation in the Brazilian semiarid region. However, water limitation may submit it to a state of stress, the impact of which will depend on the duration, intensity, and stage of development. During the reproductive period, there is high water demand, so a deficit in this resource can be critical. Based on the physiological responses triggered by the water deficit, the aim of this work was to analyze the biometric characteristics of the fruits and the germination of M. oleifera seeds produced in the drought and rainy seasons. The fruits were collected and evaluated for biometric parameters and germination tests were conducted under controlled conditions. It was observed significant variance between the weight (H=25.7424), length (F=3.5965) and number of seeds (H=5.6884), as well as for percentage and speed germination being the upper values for the dry season. (H=16.1752; F = 11.8356). The water limitation affects the physiological processes of the plant, influencing important reproductive aspects to the recruitment and establishment of the species, such as the number of seeds and their physiological quality. These results show that, even though it is quite tolerant to drought, the water deficit can affect the reproductive success of M. oleifera. Index terms: water deficit, semi-arid, abiotic