Morphometry and Physiological Quality of Moringa oleifera Seeds in the Function of Their Fruit Position

Abstract

Seed selection as a function of their position in the fruit and its biometric characteristics has been widely used in multiplying several plant species, since these factors may be related to their physiological quality. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of the position that the seeds occupy in the fruits on the morphometry and the physiological quality of moringa seeds. The fruits were analyzed for their biometric characteristics and divided into three regions, called apical, medial and basal, proceeding to separate the seeds considering their position in the fruits. Three seeds were collected from each fruit region with 200 seeds each, and digital morphometry was evaluated using ImageJ® and physiological quality. Four replicates of 50 seeds obtained in each region of the fruit were used in a completely randomized design. Data were submitted to ANOVA and the means comparison of the variables was performed by the Tukey test at 5% probability. In the morphometry analysis, a statistical difference for the variables of weight, area, diameter, length, perimeter and circularity was observed. For the physiological quality, it was observed that the germination and vigor tests separated the seeds at two levels, except for the epicotyl/radicle length, which presented higher accuracy. Moringa fruit and seeds presented morphometric variation, where the seeds of the basal region were larger and heavier, while the seeds of the medial and basal regions presented greater germination and vigor than those of the apical part.