Scarification of Seeds of Capsicum chinense Jacq. With Phytohormones and Physicochemical Treatments to Improve Seedling Quality

Abstract

Background and Objective: Loss of viability is one of the main problems of habanero pepper seeds. After being in storage for more than three months, the speed and final percentage of germination of habanero pepper seeds decrease considerably. The aim of the study was proposed to evaluate hormonal, chemical and physical treatments in the scarification of seeds of habanero pepper Capsicum chinense Jacq. to determine the effect of dormancy on germination and seedling quality. Materials and Methods: The seven treatments were: T 1 (hot water at 50EC/5 min), T 2 (Biozyme TF 1.6% (v/v)/24 hrs), T 3 (Sodium chloride (NaCl) 0.5 M/24 hrs), T 4 (Gibberellic acid (AG 3 )) at 400 ppm/20 hrs), T 5 (cold 4EC/48 hrs), T 6 (Potassium nitrate (KNO 3 ) 3%/24 hrs), T 7 (seeds without treatment). The agronomic parameters evaluated were (a) Germination (%), (b) Germination percentage, (c) Cumulative germination over time (%) and (d) Seedling quality, which was evaluated through the following parameters: seedling height, number of leaves, stem diameter and root length. Results: The data were subjected to analysis of variance. The statistical analysis showed no significant differences in germination percentage between the evaluated treatments ("<0.05). The treatments that showed the highest average values were hot water, Biozyme TF and Gibberellic acid, with germination percentages above 90%. Conclusion: Phytohormonal scarification with Biozyme TF stimulated seed germination and led to 90% of the seeds germinating on the same day, with high-quality seedlings of up to 80-90%.