Physiological maturity of Tabebuia aurea (Silva Manso) Benth. & Hook. f. ex S. Moore seeds

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to verify the efficiency of physical and biochemical indices in determining the physiological maturity of Tabebuia aurea seeds, as well as to evaluate the post-harvest storage of fruits with different maturation stages on germination and vigor. For this, 200 fruits were classified as dark green (stage I), light green (stage II), and light brown (stage III) epicarp. Freshly harvested fruits were evaluated for length, width, and weight and their seeds for length, width, thickness, thousand-seed weight, water content, electrical conductivity, and chemical composition. Subsequently, a factorial consisting of three maturation stages and four storage periods of fruits (0, 5, 10 and 15 days) were used, and water content, germination, germination speed index, root length, shoot length, and seedling dry matter were evaluated. Physical and biochemical indices can be used as maturation indicators in T. aurea seeds, except fruit length, seed thickness, electrical conductivity, and protein content. The maximum germination and vigor of T. aurea seeds were obtained in fruits at stages I (dark green) or II (light green) associated with post-harvest storage of fifteen days.

Physico‐Chemical Properties as a Key Factor in Choosing Practically Applicable Biocompatible Polymers

“…They are an important construction material for the preparation of soluble polymeric carriers, micelles, liposomes, (polymer-coated) nanoparticles, and polyplexes. [1][2][3][4] The most important applications of such polymers are to increase solubility of the systems in aqueous environment, to anchor targeting groups, to ensure responsiveness to external stimuli (e.g., to changes in pH or temperature) and to increase biocompatibility or non-immunogenicity of the whole system. Decreasing immunogenicity of the conjugate may by essential for delivery of proteins from other organisms that are essentially immunogenic.…”