Tratamento de sementes de Vigna unguiculata L .com óleos essenciais durante o armazenamento.

Abstract

The use of synthetic pesticides in the agricultural sector has advanced in recent decades. When improperly used, these products can cause serious environmental problems, besides being harmful to humans and animals. The advancement of the organic production system has been arousing interest in natural substances with the use of products less harmful to the environment. The employment of new active ingredients, as alternatives to fungicides used in seed treatment, such as essential oils produced by the secondary metabolites of plants with antibacterial and antifungal properties, fits as a field for prospecting. In this sense, the present study aimed to evaluate the incidence of phytopathogens and the physiological quality of Vigna unguiculata L. seeds treated with different essential oils over storage. Essential oils from Eucalyptus globulus, Mentha piperita, Copaifera officinalis, Cymbopogon winterianus, Melaleuca alternifolia, commercial fungicide Captan, and the control were evaluated. The materials were packaged in PET bottles and kept in a laboratory environment at 0, 60, 120, 180, and 240 days and evaluated for physical, physiological, and sanitary quality. Data were subjected to analysis of variance by the F test with 5% probability, and when significant, the means of the qualitative factor were compared by the Tukey test, and the quantitative factor was unfolded into regression parameters. It was found that the treatments applied did not have negative effects on the physical quality of the seeds throughout the storage periods. The essential oil of Mentha piperita favored the maintenance of the physiological quality of the seeds, resembling the use of the chemical product Captan. The use of the chemical product also ensured the greatest control of fungal incidence associated with cowpea seeds; however, such control did not differ from the treatment in which Mentha piperita essential oil was used, which showed good efficiency in controlling fungi associated with stored cowpea seeds.