Uso do teste Lercafé para a caracterização de danos em sementes de cafeeiro

Abstract

Resumo -O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a utilização do teste Lercafé, para estimar a germinação e caracterizar diferentes tipos de danos em sementes de cafeeiro. Utilizaram-se sementes de cafeeiro arábica cultivar Catuaí IAC 44, submetidas aos seguintes tratamentos: sementes sem dano, sementes com dano por secagem a 40 e 60ºC, e sementes brocadas. As sementes foram avaliadas pelos testes de germinação e Lercafé. Em relação aos dois tipos de danos, os resultados de germinação, estimada pelo Lercafé, apresentaram alta correlação com os obtidos pelo teste de germinação. O dano por secagem à alta temperatura caracterizou-se pelo aparecimento de manchas esverdeadas espalhadas, que atingiram parcial ou totalmente o endosperma da semente. O dano por broca caracterizou-se por uma depressão circundada por um anel de coloração verde. O teste Lercafé é eficiente para estimar a germinação e caracterizar os danos por secagem à alta temperatura e os causados por broca, em sementes de cafeeiro.Termos para indexação: Coffea arabica, Hypothenemus hampei, hipoclorito de sódio, teste de germinação. Characterization of injuries in coffee seeds through Lercafé testAbstract -The objective of this work was to evaluate the use of the Lercafé test for estimating the germination and characterizing different types of injuries in coffee seeds. Seeds of arabica coffee cultivar Catuaí IAC 44 were submitted to the following treatments: nondamaged seeds, heat damage (at 40 and 60ºC), and bug damage. Seeds were assessed by the tests of germination and Lercafé. The germination results estimated by Lercafé test had high correlation with the results from the germination test for the two types of injuries. The heat damage, by drying seeds at high temperatures, was characterized by scattered green stains, partially or totally covering the seed endosperm. A sunken lesion surrounded by a green ring characterized the damage by coffee berry borer. Lercafé test is efficient to estimate the germination and to characterize the injuries by heat and coffee berry borer, in coffee seeds.Index terms: Coffea arabica, Hypothenemus hampei, sodium hypochlorite, germination test. IntroduçãoAs sementes de cafeeiro, quando ainda no campo, estão sujeitas a alguns danos, causados principalmente por insetos-praga, entre os quais se destaca a broca-do-café (Hypothenemus hampei) que, segundo Damon (2000), é a principal praga do cafeeiro em vários países produtores como Brasil, Colômbia e Vietnã. A broca-do-café é uma praga presente em grãos verdes e maduros de café, que não causa danos às folhas, caules e ramos (Damon, 2000; Reis, 2004). As fêmeas adultas abrem galerias no endosperma da semente, onde depositam os ovos. As larvas e os adultos alimentam-se das sementes e provocam redução no peso dos grãos, que pode variar de 5 a 20%, depois de processado (Borbón-Martínez et al., 2000). Após a colheita e as etapas de preparo das sementes, outro tipo de dano muito comum está relacionado à alta temperatura utilizada no processo de secagem.Os danos por exposição à alta t...

Characterization of mechanical damage in coffee seeds by the LERCAFÉ test¹

“…The correlation significant value (r=0,9550) demonstrates that the use the LERCAFÉ test is very important for the detection and quantification of this kind of damage, since, in the treatments in which a higher percentage of seeds with mechanical damage was detected (lots 3 and 4), it was also observed a significant decrease in the germination. This characteristic (high correlation between the values achieved in the germination and LERCAFÉ tests) was also observed by Zonta et al (2008) and Zonta et al (2009), studying different kinds of damage in coffee seeds. Averages followed by the same letter in the column do not present significant difference by the Tukey test at 5% of probability.…”

“…Seeds belonging to the classes 2 and 3 were considered nongerminable. The characterization of different types of damage in coffee seeds by the LERCAFÉ test has already been described by Zonta et al (2008). These authors characterized the damage by high temperature drying and the damage by coffee berry borer.…”

“…In these studies, the author verified that certain concentrations of sodium hypochlorite used as imbibition solution react with deteriorated parts of the endosperm, causing the appearance of a green coloration in these areas. By studying the use of the LERCAFÉ test to identify damage in coffee seeds, Zonta et al (2008) and Zonta et al (2009) characterized different types of injuries with this test. The damage caused by the coffee berry borer and by high temperature drying was characterized by regions with greenish color in the injured area, while the natural aging during storage caused the darkening of the seed endosperm.…”

Exudate coloring test suitability for assessing the viability of coffee seeds ( Coffea arabica L.)

“…Deteriorated or less vigorous seeds usually release a larger amount of exudates due to the disruption of their membranes (Milosevic et al, 2010). Among the quick tests that are based on the integrity of the system of cellular membranes and that have been studied for coffee seeds, some highlights are the electrical conductivity test (Costa and Carvalho, 2006;Soto et al, 1995;Malta et al, 2005), pH exudate (Vieira et al, 1998), Lercafé (Zonta et al, 2008;Reis et al, 2010), and the exudate coloring test (Sera and Miglioranza, 2000;Sera et al, 2006;Hilst et al, 2012).…”

Test of exudates color hues for evaluating the physiological potential of coffee (Coffea arabica L.) seeds

“…Some fast tests can be used for evaluating the physiological quality of coffee seeds as an alternative to the germination test, being highlighted the LERCAFÉ test (Reis et al 2010;Zonta et al, 2008), the tetrazolium test (Lopez, 1988;Dias and Silva, 1998), and the electrical conductivity test (Costa and Carvalho, 2006).…”